Spain PM Mariano Rajoy agreed to discuss 2017 budget proposal with rivals Ciudadanos,  Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy ,Spain budget 2017 news updates, Citizens, Albert Rivera

At Wednesday's news conference, Rajoy announced the PP had drafted a list of ten policy proposals to form the basis of any coalition talks, and that he and Rivera had agreed to discuss the most pressing, the 2017 national budget, plans for which need to be presented to Brussels by mid-October.

Spain's acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Wednesday his People's Party (PP) and smaller rival Ciudadanos had taken a first step towards unfreezing deadlocked Spanish politics by agreeing to discuss a 2017 budget proposal due in mid-October.

Rajoy said a day earlier that Spain may have to hold its third election in under a year if parties such as the Socialists continued their steadfast opposition to his centre-right PP and its efforts to form a government.

Spain has been under a caretaker administration for nearly eight months after a December election stripped the PP of its majority in parliament and coalition talks were inconclusive. Another election in June also failed to result in a government.

"This is a first step and, as you know, even the longest journey always starts with a first step," Rajoy told a news conference after meeting Ciudadanos (Citizens) leader Albert Rivera.

src: http://in.reuters.com/article/spain-politics-idINL8N1AK4BG