Catalonia has 31,886 million euros of public debt

Madrid (ACN).- The Bank of Spain on Friday issued the public debt data of the Spanish Autonomous Communities. Catalonia has a public debt of 31,886 million euros, which represents 27.6% of the total debt of the Autonomous Communities. Catalonia is therefore the community with the largest figure. The Catalan debt increased by 36.7% in 2010. This represents 16.2% of Catalonia’s GDP. The new Catalan Government, which is run by a Liberal-Christian Democrat force and took office 11 weeks ago, emphasised its austerity and stability plan to reduce the public deficit through a drastic reduction of public expenditure. The Catalan Government’s plan is to reduce it by 10% and finish 2011 with a public deficit of 1.3%. In 2010, the Catalan Government’s deficit, run by a left wing coalition, was 3.86%.

The Spanish Autonomous Communities had a total debt of 115,455 million euros. The figure may seem quite large, but it is necessary to note that they are responsible for some 40% of the total public expenditure in the country. Spain’s total public debt (counting all the administrations accounts for more than 600,000 million euros). In addition in 2010, the Autonomous Communities’ debt increased by 31.7%, due to the public deficit increase and a lack of revenue transfers from the State. In 2011, all the Communities committed to a minimal public deficit of 1.3% and they are presenting austerity plans to reduce expenditure. Some have already done so, such as Catalonia, whose plan foresees a 10% reduction of the Catalan budget in comparison to 2010.

The Bank of Spain also released the debt of the Spanish municipal councils at the end of 2010. Barcelona’s City Council had a debt of 1,202 million euros, which represents an increase of 59% in relation to the debt levels of 2009. Madrid City Council has a much larger debt, totalling 6,453 million euros. The positive news is that Madrid reduced its public debt by 5% compared to the almost 7 billion euros reached in 2009.