The Spanish Government to transfer to Catalonia the €1.7 billion cancelled in October

Barcelona (ACN).-The Catalan Executive stated on Thursday that they have the Spanish Government’s commitment to send the €1.76 billion that the Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, announced in late October would not be transferred. This money corresponds to the liquidity needed to fund the Catalan Government’s deficit target increase from 0.7% to 1.58% in 2013 approved in July by the Spanish Executive. However, in late October – 10 weeks before the end of the year, Montoro announced that the fund to pay service providers (which are loans given to the Autonomous Communities and local government to pay for arrears) was linked to the Liquidity Fund to the Autonomous Communities (FLA). The FLA offers loans to the Autonomous Community governments – such as the Catalan – to guarantee their liquidity, since they do not have access to international financial markets to get cash. By linking the FLA to the Service Provider Fund, Montoro announced that the Catalan Government would not receive the €1.76 billion requested from the FLA since this money would be used by the other fund to pay for arrears. This meant that Catalonia was missing €1.76 billion to fund public services and departments for the last part of the year. The decision caused alarm and outrage in Barcelona, as it was perceived as another act of disloyalty by the Spanish Government. Negotiations during the last 4 weeks have apparently modified Montoro’s October decision.

The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell said he was “satisfied” that “the misunderstanding” about the FLA had been resolved. The €1.76 billion should be received in two parts, announced on Thursday evening the Catalan Minister. The first one will arrive before the end of 2013 and the second one in early 2014. “It is better this way than that they do not come at all”, said Mas-Colell.

The money for the chemists will arrive “in the coming days”

Mas-Colell also announced that the money from the Service Providers Fund would arrive “in the coming days”. The Catalan Finance Minister explained that this money will be used to pay for the bills in arrears, including those from chemists, who demonstrated last week. In fact, chemists protested in front of the Spanish Government’s Delegation to demand the urgent transfer of the Service Provider Funds in order to allow the Catalan Government to pay for their bills.