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Issue 169:
29/01/10 - 11/02/10 |
WELCOME to the FRONT PAGE |
According to a study undertaken by three professors from the University of Murcia the financial debt accumulated by town councils in the region of Murcia has reached €630 million.
Francisco Bastida, Bernardino Benito and Maria Dolores Guillamon have analysed the debt situation of all the councils in the region of Murcia and have discovered a shocking figure owing just to banks in the way of loans and credits, which has reached €630 million. Not included in this €630 million are any debts owed to individual companies that supply the councils, such as refuse collection companies or electricity suppliers.
The study has revealed that several municipalities, including Archena, Bullas, Fuente Alamo, Lorqui, and Molina de Segura have no real way with their current earnings of repaying the debt to financial institutions.
Councils such as Los Alcázares, San Javier and San Pedro del Pinatar appear to be faring better than others with debts that are considered to be realistically repayable. The main cause for the growing debt that many councils in Murcia seem to be accumulating, has been identified as the slow-down in the construction industry, which has resulted in the council receiving less income from planning permissions. Part of the debt has also been attributed to the National Government's Plan E Investment Programme, intended to stimulate the local economy. The prerequisites to obtain funds from Plan E require that projects be undertaken and started within a short period of time and unfortunately this has meant that councils have had to borrow money from banks in order to get the projects started and then wait for the funds to come in from the national government.
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