Article published by Catalonia Today. 1st April 2016. By David Portabella.
Photo: Cristóbal Montoro and Oriol Junqueras, responsible for the finances of the central and Catalan governments, at a meeting held in Madrid on the 18th of this month. Photo: EFE.
Spanish deficit exceeds forecasts by €10 billion, Treasury blames Catalan government; Catalonia and other regions to come under “special supervision”
When he was appointed Spanish Minister of Finance in December 2011, Cristóbal Montoro expressed surprise at discovering a deviation from the deficit and held José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero responsible for what had in fact been the fault of PP-governed regions.
Yesterday, four years later, Montoro revealed that in the final year of the PP’s mandate the state deficit exceeded all forecasts and was not the 4.5% promised by Mariano Rajoy a fortnight ago, but rather 5.2%. In other words, a shortfall of €10 billion in 2015, which La Moncloa did not realise until the last minute and completely undermines its credibility with Brussels.
When it came to apportioning the blame, however, Montoro exempted the Spanish state and blamed Catalonia, which quadrupled its target of 0.7% – despite reducing it from 2.74% to 2.70% – and to a lesser extent, Valencia.
Read the rest of the article here.
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