Spanish minister: Independent Catalonia out of EU
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Spanish minister: Independent Catalonia out of EU

PUBLISHED : 25 Oct 2017 at 16:49

WRITER: Reuters

Spanish Minister of Economy, Lauis de Guindos (centre), speaks during the Government's Question Time at the Parliament's Lower Chamber in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, two days before the Senate's plenary session in which Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution is set to be invoked over Catalonia. Article 155 allows the government to impose direct rule in a crisis on any of the country's semi-autonomous regions. (EPA photo)
Spanish Minister of Economy, Lauis de Guindos (centre), speaks during the Government's Question Time at the Parliament's Lower Chamber in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, two days before the Senate's plenary session in which Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution is set to be invoked over Catalonia. Article 155 allows the government to impose direct rule in a crisis on any of the country's semi-autonomous regions. (EPA photo)

MADRID: An independent Catalonia would be forced out of the European Union and euro area which would directly hurt the regional economy, the Spanish economy minister said on Wednesday.

"It'd be out of all the treaties, 70% of its gross domestic product would be subject to tariffs and physical borders. It would be out of the euro zone and the banks wouldn't have ECB coverage ... it would have to create its own currency which would be very depreciated," Luis de Guindos told parliament on Wednesday.

Such a depreciation would lead to an estimated 25-30% drop in regional economic growth, elevated inflation and a doubling of unemployment rates, he said.

(Video Twitter/Al Jazeera)

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