Oriol Junqueras, the independentist leader of ERC, announced yesterday that the Government and ERC have agreed to cancel more than €17 billion, 22%, of Catalonia’s debt with the Autonomous Liquidity Fund (FLA). The agreement was reached between ERC and PSOE in exchange for Pedro Sánchez’s investiture and is intended to be implemented immediately.
Hours after ERC’s announcement, the central government offered to forgive €83.252 billion of debt to the autonomous communities, 27% of the total, by extending the debt cancellation plan initially agreed with ERC for Catalonia to all regions under common regime in exchange for Pedro Sánchez’s investiture.
The autonomous communities led by the PP have already announced that they will vote against the agreement at the Fiscal Policy Council meeting scheduled for tomorrow, which will proceed as long as it is supported by just one region. The plan, which originated from Sánchez’s investiture pact between PSOE and ERC in autumn 2023, initially involved a write-off of 20% of Catalonia’s debt with the FLA, amounting to €15 billion, with a formula extendable to other regions.
Ultimately, the Catalan write-off will rise to €17.104 billion euros, 19.9% of its total debt at the end of 2023. This figure amounts to €2,284 euros per inhabitant—almost double what is forgiven to a citizen of Madrid—and reduces regional debt from €85.986 billion to €68.986 billion.
