European Central Bank: “Catalonia is in a better condition to recover from the crisis than the rest of Spain”

Barcelona (CNA).- In an interview with CNA, José Manuel González-Páramo, the Spanish representative in the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (BCE), said that Catalonia is the Spanish autonomous community in a better position for a more speedy recovery from the crisis. “Catalonia is traditionally a community with an export vocation and with an industrial specialisation far superior to the rest of Spain”. He also added that the “autonomous communities that well-manage the competences in economic areas, such as service regulation, tourism or trade, and those with an export speciality, are in a better condition for a faster exit from the crisis”.

González-Páramo thinks that Catalonia “has a special challenge regarding its public finances and the contention of its debt levels”. However, at the same time he stated that “Catalan economic authorities are already taking measures to face this challenge”. He also affirmed that the lack of competence s that Catalonia has in some areas “do not enable an active policy to exit the crisis”. However, he thinks that Catalonia can focus on “well managing the competences that it already has”, as it has been doing, he added.

González-Páramo insisted on the exporting capacity as a key asset to recover from the crisis. According to last June’s data from the Spanish Tax Agency, Catalonia exported freight for a value of 4,183 million euros during the first semester of 2010, which is 25% of all Spain’s exports.