Catalan President Artur Mas justifies cuts in the face of tough opposition

Barcelona (ACN).- The president of the Generalitat, Artur Mas, argued on Tuesday that the government, who he has presided over for the last seven months, has acted with "courage". He argued that, "no president likes to have to approve higher budgets cuts than have been experienced in previous years and to have to say no to many public requests" but stressed that it was a necessary measure to keep Catalonia from "reaching the edge of a financial precipice".

Opposition to Artur Mas has recently argued that his assessment of the financial crisis was exaggerated and untimely. The socialist opposition party, the PSC, has criticized the fact that Mas has failed to reduce the debt of the Government and has created a climate of insecurity "that goes beyond reasonable." Meanwhile, the conservative PPC has lamented the slow pace that measures to combat the crisis were implemented and the Greens of the ICV-EUiA denounced a "sick obsession" with the cuts. Mas has assured the public however that he can "take the blows" that his opposition throw at him, convinced as he is his office has been acting for the past seven moths in the best interest of Catalonia. "The situation that the country faced was complicated when we entered government" he recounts, "the deficit was higher than we expected and than we were told that it would be". He remains adamant however that when faced with the precarious situation, his government "met with it" head on, realising the importance of passing the budget rather than continuing the trend of borrowing. According to Mas, the financial situation of Catalonia was "in danger of getting close to the edge of the precipice and bankruptcy". He said that his high rate of 10% cuts to spending, "is a commitment that is in line with the health of the country and its people" All governments want to "create new opportunities, commit to new investments and resources, and help citizens and businesses in the country", says Mas, but if they forced impose austerity measures it is because "circumstances compel them to do so". From this perspective, he stated that "it is clear that the government policy will continue with its austerity measures as it has the responsibility of seeing that the ship is stable". A parliamentary spokesman of the CIU assessed the economic situation as "really good and positive" although he added that much more work remains to be done.