Spain outlines executive pay crackdown for public companies

Spain's government has announced plans to introduce limits on executive pay rates among state-owned companies.

Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, deputy prime minister for the country's conservative government, has announced that basic annual salaries for public companies will be limited to €105,000 (£87,000), reports the Guardian.

Though this would still allow government-approved productivity bonuses to be paid on top of this, it still represents a cut of around 35 per cent to the average senior executive salary rate.

Smaller public companies will see even more stringent wage caps implemented, a move designed to address concerns over excessive pay packets being funded by the taxpayer.

"These salaries are noticeably lower than in the private sector, but they are still reasonable wages … at a time of austerity," said the deputy prime minister.

It comes after the Spanish parliament endorsed new reforms of the banking sector earlier this month, as the country seeks to address its financial problems.