FINANCIAL-AUSTERITY/MEASURES =2 July 13

* IRELAND

-- There is an acceptance in Ireland that it needs to pay for the over-leveraged years of the "Celtic Tiger" economy and trade unions have held off from strikes or industrial action.

-- Ireland unveiled a five-year austerity programme earlier this year to tackle the worst public finances in the euro zone.

-- Dublin is targeting 8 billion euros ($11.29 billion) in tax hikes and spending cuts in 2010-2011 on top of 3.3 billion euros ($4.60 billion) worth of measures detailed in an emergency budget in April, its second in six month. The government has also signalled that cuts to social welfare, a new carbon tax and property tax are on the cards for December.

-- Ireland aims to squeeze its budget deficit from an estimated 10.75 percent of GDP in 2009, proportionately the worst in the euro zone, to 3 percent by 2013, the EU limit.

* LITHUANIA

-- Lithuania discussed more budget cuts and tax hikes in June to prop up finances and protect its currency peg. A supplementary budget aimed to save 1 billion litas ($289.6 million), as the government repeated its prediction that the economy could shrink by 18.2 percent in 2009.

-- The government has also raised value added tax (VAT) rate to 19 percent from 18 percent, scrapped most VAT breaks, raised social taxes for the self-employed and excise duties on petrol and alcohol in the original budget 2009 approved at end-December. To help to balance the social budget, the government slashed transfers to private pension funds to 3 percent from 5.5 percent of social tax payments.

* ROMANIA

-- Romania's centre-left government has scrapped plans to hike public sector wages in 2009, reflecting IMF-mandated budget cuts. The six-month-old cabinet has enforced spending cuts accounting for roughly 1 percent of GDP.

-- It now expects the economy to shrink in 2009 as the global crisis has slashed lending, consumption and demand for Romanian goods abroad and forced it to secure 20 billion euros in IMF-led aid last March.

-- Under the terms of the IMF deal, Romania agreed to budget gap ceilings ranging from 1.6 percent of GDP at the end of the first quarter to 4.6 percent at the end of 2009. Bucharest will lower its deficits to meet the EU's 3-percent cap by 2011.

* SLOVENIA

-- Euro zone member Slovenia cut the planned 2009 budget spending last month for the second time this year and increased the expected budget deficit to 5.5 percent of GDP from 3.4 percent seen in March. The planned budget spending was cut mainly by cutting spending in defence and transport investments.