Sell ​​in July and not collect until September: "An invoice that is now worth 1,000 euros, in December is worth 900"

The collection of debt for commercial operations continues to emerge as one of the main stumbling blocks for the Spanish business fabric once the pandemic is over.

as the limit by Spanish legislation and payment is delayed up to 70 or 80 days.

During the previous financial year, the average amounted to

, according to the

report, presented by Allianz Trade, a shareholder of Solunion.

In the European framework, among all the countries analyzed,

, with a delay of 72 days.

According to the document, the aforementioned period of time presents a close correlation with the size of the debtor company.

Thus, the larger the company, the more payments are delayed.

"Due to the length of the judicial process, in Spain, it is often preferable to carry out efficient and orchestrated collection efforts before considering the possibility of taking legal action," the company argues.

The study expresses, with special emphasis, the difficulties of trying to collect a debt when the debtor has declared

, a situation in which "debt collection becomes extremely complicated, especially with regard to unsecured creditors ", explains

, chief analyst of Insolvency Research at Allianz Trade and one of those responsible for the study.

The figures presented in the study regarding collection periods coincide with the situation that the

Delinquency (PMcM) has been denouncing for years.

"Large companies maintain

, according to the study, above what is allowed in Spanish legislation," says

, president of the aforementioned platform.

"This leads to a situation of uncertainty for small and medium-sized companies."

As president of PMcM, Cañete participated in the government's economic reconstruction plan after the pandemic.

During these conversations, before the Industry Commission, he denounced this situation, alluding to the fact that, despite the high level of liquidity that listed companies had acquired in 2020 thanks to the massive purchase mechanism of financial assets articulated by the ECB, the average payment period of debts increased.

"

and, then, the IBEX companies increased their volume of cash and liquid assets by 29%. Despite this, they

from one year to the next. How is it possible that, with more liquidity, this delay increased?", he explains.

At the end of 2020, the companies present in the different national stock indices

, however "they had more liquidity than ever", they affirm from the association.

From that request to the Government, part of the new

has emanated , which will oblige companies that receive public money to settle their obligations within the period stipulated by law, that is, 60 days.

Finally, Antoni Cañete warns of the advantage that large companies have when it comes to negotiating long-term payments in view of the current economic situation: "You have to be careful, because an invoice that is now worth 1,000 euros, if you charge in December, it will be worth 900".

"This situation highlights the current risk presented by the payment chain in Spain, it can generate a rebound effect throughout the economy," he points out.

Last April, the employers' association itself,

, warned of the delicate situation that the Spanish business park was going through, specifically, SMEs.

The level of commercial debts soared in 2021 to 280,000 million euros, 17.3% more than the previous record in the series, supplying the little room for maneuver they had after two years in which their turnover was reduced ostensibly.

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