The former Catalan finance minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, spoke this morning about the lack of agreement between the Junts pel Sí and CUP parties on passing the budget. Mas-Colell insisted that he had already “told CUP that they were not as good as their word and that would not make good on it.” This is why he believes that “CUP will not withdraw the entirety of the amendment.” Nevertheless, he admits that “it is possible to function with an extension to the current budget for more than a year.”
In statements to TV3, the former Catalan minister insisted that he has no “confidence in CUP and believes that the process should not depend on this party.” On the budget, the economist said that he has “a good diagonal reading of the budget. It is what corresponds to the contexts of Europe, Spain and Catalonia.”
“It is the budget that I would no doubt also have drawn up,” he said bluntly, adding that “the numbers, given the conditioning factors, could be voted for by anyone in the Catalan parliament.” As for the announcement made yesterday by the acting Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, Mas-Colell lamented that “it is frivolous to announce a reduction in tax. It is pandering to the electorate and Europe has already warned Rajoy about it.”
