The umpteenth effect of inflation has to do with the payments of companies to their suppliers. According to the president of the Multisectoral Platform against Morosity (PMcM), Antoni Cañete, companies have already incorporated the rise in prices into the management of working capital and, unlike what happened at other times, now it is even more convenient for them to leave the money in the box.
"With inflation, paying late is better because money is devalued. Companies use it as a cash flow tool," he says. Cañete gives as an example a payment of 1,000 euros in January: the company knows that with price increases there is an expectation of devaluation of money and more remuneration for savings, so it is worth retaining the amount, making it profitable and getting rid of it end of the year, when it is worth less.
This movement, carried out on a large scale, can aggravate the situation of many freelancers and providers. The PMcM forecasts a strong increase in delinquency in the coming months.
According to his calculations, companies owe 82,000 million euros, which have already exceeded the legal payment term of 60 days. To end or reduce this practice, the platform calls for a new penalty regime.
The Create and Grow law has been in force since September, which tries to tackle this problem and which, among other things, contemplates the publication of a list of delinquent companies by the Ministry of Finance and prohibits anyone who delays from accessing public funds. The PMcM complains that, on the other hand, there is no sanctioning regime so that the law can be applied to its full extent.
The closure of access to public funds for these companies can cause more than one upset, says Cañete. If applied, many companies could be left without European resources from the Generation Next program, around which the large Spanish sectoral Perte is articulated.
Cañete assures that the largest of all Perte, the Electric and Connected Vehicle, could suffer problems. "The payment periods of the automotive companies are over 100 days", he has warned in a meeting with the press before meeting with deputies to convey the platform's claims to them.
If the delinquency is not resolved urgently, the PMcM ensures that 200,000 companies in Spain could be closed, says Cañete. As he says, one in four bills is due to unpaid bills. Credito y Caución figures at 170,000 companies in danger due to the delinquency of their clients.
