Never until now has the forgiveness of part of the historical debt accumulated by the Valencian Community after years of underfinancing been so close. In fact, if the words of the first vice president and Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, and the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Boñalos, are heeded, the agreement reached between the PSOE and ERC "will be extendable" to other communities "that They have been carrying an enormous volume of debt for decades", as is the case with the Valencian Community; the second in debt in absolute terms and the first in terms of GDP.
Despite the words and the fact that the text itself signed by socialists and independentists includes it - "a legal modification of general scope will be processed for all the Autonomous Communities of the common regime that allows the assumption by the State of part of the autonomous debt with this one" -, they don't trust the Valencian Government.
Yesterday, the spokesperson and Minister of Finance, Ruth Merino, pointed out, after the meeting of the full Council, that it was "difficult" to make a correct assessment of the agreement due to the "opacity when calculating it." Despite the "ignorance" and "helplessness" that, in the opinion of the spokesperson for the regional Executive, these types of bilateral agreements produce, Merino was quick to demand from the central executive, "at least" the same treatment as Catalonia in the condonation of the regional debt.
However, the head of the Treasury reiterated that it was difficult to be optimistic and did not venture to calculate how much the Valencian Community would have to receive. "We don't know how it was calculated," she reiterated.
It was clearer in the ranks of the PSPV. Its general secretary and former Valencian president, Ximo Puig, highlighted that the Government agreement moves in the right direction for the Valencian Community and "will mean the forgiveness of 10,000 million euros of our debt." The socialists make this calculation based on 48,344 million that are owed for loans from the FLA, according to data from the Bank of Spain.
With these data, the leader of the PSPV dared to assess yesterday that the Valencian Community “is the autonomy that will save the most money per inhabitant thanks to the measures included in the Government pact”: “The burden on each Valencian man and woman is reduced at 1,800 euros” he noted. For this reason, he urged Mazón to “act as a representative of the Valencian Community and not as a branch of the PP.”
Also the Ombudsman of Compromís in Les Corts, Joan Baldoví, was optimistic about the pact, considering that it "opens an interesting door" for all the autonomies. In this sense, he demanded that Mazón support "enthusiastically that we Valencians have less debt."
Baldoví reiterated that if the measure is not extended to the Valencian Community, Compromís will not vote in favor of the investiture.
