Catalonia requests a ransom of € 5 billion

One of the regions rich of Spain requested the Government of Mariano Rajoy this sum to deal with its debt maturities.Valencia and Murcia had already asked the rescue

The regional Government of Catalonia reported that prompted 5,023 million euros to the Fund created by the central executive to help regions with financial problems, said his spokesman, Francesc Homs, after the catalan Council of Ministers.

The autonomous community is the Spain in terms of the gross domestic product (GDP) second behind Madrid and has the country's highest debt: 42 billion euros. This order will be used to pay the obligations facing in the second tranche of 2012.

Valencia and Murcia had already asked the Government of Mariano Rajoy. With a debt equivalent to 21% of its GDP, Catalonia must adjust the deficit of 3.9% which closed 2011 at 1.5% of GDP at the end of this year.

"(Self-government) Government decided to request to participate in the Fund's liquidity amounting to 5,023 million euros, without accepting conditions poiticas", said Homs.

In recent weeks, analysts had pointed to the first meeting of the Executive after the recess in the summer as the likely date for apply for membership to the Fund.

The Minister of economy of the catalan Executive, Andreu Mas-Colell, had anticipated this scenario: "the current situation is that Catalonia does not have another bank rather than the Spanish Government".

The Catalan community, whose capital is the rich Barcelona, faces maturities in the second half by 5.755 million euros, including the issuance of retail bonds that expires in November this year.

Despite expressions of spokesman Homs on does not accept political conditions in exchange for money from the central Government, the truth is that each community who wants to stick to the bottom of liquidity should modify his adjustment plan to ensure compliance with its objectives of stability and public debt, and must periodically to account for their Treasury movements, among other requirements.

Drafted decree by the Ministry of finance Spanish even provides that "when the General intervention of the administration of the State send a mission of control", the "internal organ" of the autonomous community will facilitate access to "the totality of documentation" that requires.