The investiture agreement between the PSOE and ERC includes a remission to Catalonia of 15,000 million euros of debt. This is 20% of all the liabilities that the Catalan region accumulates through the Autonomous Liquidity Fund (FLA), and as explained by the Government it will be a measure that other regions can take advantage of.
This was stated by the leader of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, after meeting with the Minister of the Presidency of the Government, Félix Bolaños, and this is reflected in the investiture document that both parties signed. “In order to clean up the financial situation of the Generalitat and facilitate its return to financing in the debt markets, a legal modification of general scope will be processed for all the Autonomous Communities of the common regime that allows the assumption by the State of part of the autonomous debt with it, originated by the negative impact of the economic cycle,” the text points out, in reference to the financial crisis.
In this way, “it will be determined what part of the increase in debt is due to the impact of the cycle, and transfers may also be used to cancel the debt in the case of indebtedness with third parties other than the State, if necessary.”
“This operation will involve the assumption of around 20% of the outstanding debt at the time of execution of this agreement, contracted by the Generalitat of Catalonia with the General Administration of the State in the state liquidity mechanisms, and will involve approximately 15,000 million euros of Catalonia’s debt, and will mean savings of around 1.3 billion euros in interest“confirms the document.
The agreement, therefore, represents a relief of a total of 16,300 million for Catalonia, and the 15,000 million assumed by the State do not disappear but are now distributed among the State as a whole. Sources from the acting Executive emphasize that this possibility offered to the Catalan community can be extended to all communities, although it has not yet been explained how.