MADRID: Catalonia would suffer “brutal” impoverishment if it splits from Spain, with a deep plunge in its economic output, Spain’s economy minister warned on Monday ahead of a disputed independence referendum in the region.

“The general impoverishment of the society would be brutal. GDP could fall between 25 and 30 per cent and unemployment double,” Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said in an interview with radio Cope.

An independent Catalo­nia would find itself outside of the eurozone so 75 per cent of its products would be slapped with tarifs, banks would have to relocate, and the region would have to set up its own currency, he added.

“The independence of Catalonia would be absolutely irrational from an economic point of view,” the minister said.

Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of Spain’s economy and is roughly the size of Belgium, is slated to hold an independence referendum on October 1, which Madrid and Spanish courts have declared illegal.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2017