austerity

The good results at the municipal elections give the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition ‘Convergència i Unió’ (CiU), running the Government, the support of citizens to carry on with the austerity measures and its plan to reduce public expenditure by 10%. After the Government’s approval, the budget will be discussed at the Catalan Parliament and approved by the end of July. CiU does not want to mix budget negotiations at the Parliament with local agreements after the municipal elections.

The Bank of Spain today released the debt of the Spanish Autonomous Communities. Catalan public debt represents 16.2% of Catalonia’s GDP and increased 36.7% in one year. The new Catalan Government stressed its austerity and stability plan, which will cut public expenditure by 10%.

Artur Mas, the newly elected Catalan president has a new plan up his sleeve. He will cut 23% of the high-ranking positions and reduce the number of political advisers. Public organisations and quangos will also be affected by this austerity measure. The government is forecasting a deficit of 7.800 million euros.

The Bank of Spain?s Governor demands that autonomous communities and local administrations cut public expenditure even more. He has added that most of the means announced by these public administrations are too far from the level of reductions the Spanish