For the “common good”
Montoro admits his department is now receiving weekly audits but insists on “indefinite” spending control that will ensure payment of civil servant salaries
The Minister of Finance and Public Administration Cristóbal Montoro justified the “indefinite” intervention of the accounts of the Catalan government to ensure the public good and preserve the economic stability of the state. Montoro warned yesterday that actions by the Generalitat represented a “risk to Spain’s financial stability” and that the measures taken are “proportional” to the risk . He also said that there is no time limit set and may be extended “even beyond” October 1. However, Montoro sent a message to civil servants to reassure them that the payment of their salaries “is not in danger.”
For Montoro, the action was justified in alluding to the “common good” and national interest, emphasising that “neither Catalonia nor any other autonomous community may act as if we were an isolated entity” in reference to the breach of the Catalan Department of Economy in submitting its accounts on a weekly basis. “This lack of loyalty can break the system which is putting and end to the crisis, and it is the duty of the government to avoid that,” he went on to say. He also said it was the duty of his department to make sure that public money was not being put to any illegal use in Catalonia. There will be no interruption to the payment the day-to-day costs of the Generalitat and invoices.
Meanwhile, the MP Ferran Bel (PdeCat) accused the minister of noncompliance with Spanish law, in reference to the Budget Stability Law which requires that any intervention of the type that the minister has announced must be first approved in the Senate by an absolute majority and in this instance that has not been the case.