A round-up of public finance news from around Europe you might have missed this week (May 27–31).

Banker warns against relaxing Portugal austerity

Bailed-out Portugal has to continue its fiscal and economic adjustment programme and should not relax austerity efforts too fast, Nuno Amado, the head of the country's largest-listed bank, Millennium BCP, has said. (Reuters)

The stunning failure of the Czech Republic's austerity experiment

The Czech Republic has not only failed to recover the ground it lost in the 2009 downturn, it has been consistently shrinking since the third quarter of 2011. It’s suffered a 'recession within a depression' because its political leadership put a heavy emphasis on debt reduction and fiscal restraint, assuming that economic growth would somehow result from budget cuts (Forbes)

Health sector in France suffering from austerity

According to consumer groups and medical care watchdogs, the rise in health care costs in France has been alarming. In the past two years, medical costs have gone up by 10%, much higher than average inflation rates. (Press TV)

Dutch prison staff slam prison spending cut plans as bad for public safety

Junior justice minister Fred Teeven's prison spending cuts have come under fire from prison workers, who think the plans will be bad for inmates, public safety and for the workforce. (DutchNews.nl)

Austerity chokes off Spanish economy

In the first months of 2013, Spain's economy contracted for the seventh consecutive quarter. The country's rapid economic decline is accelerated by the government's sweeping austerity measures, the latest figures show. (Deutsche Welle)