Notícies Dijous 09.01.2014 15:04

Catalan Govt demands payment of Spanish Govt debt

Spanish Gov owes Catalonia more than 2 billion euros in back payments for lack of infrastructure investment

Barcelona (ACN). The Catalan Government will file several formal demands for payment of the €2.02 billion the Spanish Government legally owes Catalonia from the period comprising 2008-2011. The money represents 1% of Catalonia’s GDP and 7% of the Catalan Government’s annual budget.

According to the Statute of Autonomy, which was approved by the Spanish Parliament and came into force in 2006, the Spanish Government was obliged to invest a percentage equal to or higher than Catalonia’s share of Spain’s GDP between 2007 and 2014 in order to compensate for a historic lack of infrastructure investment. If the investments were not made, the Spanish Executive was legally obligated to compensate Catalonia financially. The measure was adopted after exhaustive negotiations and was a key factor in convincing the Catalan people to approve the law in a binding referendum.

Nevertheless, the Spanish Government has never honored the agreement. Instead of investing the promised 19% of Spain’s total infrastructure investment in Catalonia, the Spanish Government has only ever made plans to invest between 11% and 13% (depending on the year). Further, not all of these planned investments have ever been carried out, and so the actual amount invested was even lower. Madrid made compensation payments to Catalonia for the lack of investment in 2007, but not for the remaining years.

The current Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, stated a year ago that he did not recognize this debt because it was the product of “past agreements”. Ironically, the current Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, stated in 2010 in Barcelona – before the elections – that PM José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero was obligated to pay this debt. In the last few years, the Catalan Government has been negotiating for payment of this money, taking into consideration the precarious situation of Spanish finances.

However, now it has decided to use all the formal channels available given that the issue has become particularly urgent: the Catalan Government is being forced to sell €2.3 billion in assets this year to meet the deficit targets imposed by the Spanish Government for 2014. The formal requirement is the legal step prior to filing an administrative appeal at the Spanish Finance Ministry.

The accumulated debt between 2008 and 2011 amounts to a total of €2.019 billion, according to calculations made by the Catalan Finance Ministry. The detailed amounts are as follows: The Spanish Executive owes Catalonia €759 million for 2008, €211 million for 2009, €719 million for 2010 and €330 million for 2011. Those amounts should already have been transferred by now.

The amounts for 2012, 2013 and 2014 still have to be calculated since the official numbers are issued with a 3-year delay. The €330 million corresponding to 2011 is an estimate, since the Spanish Finance Ministry has not sent the definitive calculations to the Catalan Government. However, the Spanish Government’s budget for 2014 does not include any transfers to the Catalan Government related to this debt. The only time this money was paid was in 2010, when Zapatero’s Cabinet transferred €335 million which corresponded to 2007.