World IN BRIEF : NICARAGUA : Big Layoffs Planned to Reduce Deficit

The government said it will lay off 10,000 soldiers and 15,000 state workers as part of an austerity program to reduce the budget deficit and save Nicaragua’s failing economy. Economy Minister Silvio de Franco said in Managua that Nicaragua is “on the edge of collapse like no other country in the world and there are no magical answers or fairy godmothers that can save the economic situation.” Franco said laying off the workers and further reducing the size of the Sandinista army, which has dropped by 35,000 members since President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro assumed power, will help bring down government spending. Nicaragua has a fiscal deficit of about $220 million a year.