"I question the effectiveness of the measures, the purpose is purely electoral, they are disappointing and to reverse polls." In this way, Minister Jaume Giró assesses the measures announced yesterday by Pedro Sánchez during the debate on the state of the nation in Congress. The head of Economy and Hisenda of the Generalitat has thus referred to free commuter and medium-distance trains operated by Renfe – the Government will maintain the 50% bonus – and the new taxes on the financial sector and the energy sector.
In the Minister's opinion, free public transport "is not a measure to lower inflation, but rather to rise in the polls." "An electoral measure, also to satisfy his partner," Giró summarized, who has opted to introduce brackets in bonuses based on income.
Regarding the new taxes, the Minister stressed that one thing is what is expected to be collected and another is the money that ultimately reaches the public coffers, as has happened on other occasions in recent years. In addition, he has predicted that "very soon there will be meetings to see how the tax affects customers" in the two affected sectors. "The market is not very open and competitive, there are four or five large banks and energy companies, the tax will be charged on bills and through commissions", he has predicted.
The minister has lamented that "we have an inflation that impoverishes the citizens and the productive fabric and these measures do not solve it". Thus, he has predicted that there will be more public debt after these "populist measures". "We rulers have to make populist policies or what is convenient for the citizens?", the leader has asked.
In addition, he has pointed out that what should be done to tackle inflation is to "cool down the economy", and has warned that 70% of inflation is due to the energy issue, which stems from the war in Ukraine. "After the pandemic, inflation rose because consumption rose, but the main component is the energy price. It is 70% of the rise in inflation and no measure attacks that," lamented Giró, who has also asked "to seek a diplomatic solution to end the war as soon as possible. "If not, the economic tragedy will be very great," said Giró, who recalled that months ago he already opted for diplomatic channels.
The Minister has also advocated "truly changing the energy system" and has recognized that although "we have been saying for years that we have to go to renewables, very few do" and that "in Catalonia we have not done it". "We have been many years without taking the necessary measures on this issue," he added.
The head of Catalan finance has pointed out that "energy is the most important geopolitical and strategic element for any country, what makes it tick" and has considered that "it is never a good time to antagonize Algeria" and that "this is the worse".
"From NATO what do we do? Threaten and try to sell all the military material. 90% of wars end with a peace agreement. The United States does not play anything, increases the sale of arms to Europe and sells gas to Europe from fracking. But in Europe we must look after ourselves and fix these problems", reflected Giró, who believes that this "is not the best moment for European leadership" after the departure of Angela Merkel. "Russia has in its hand a tool to make Europe go through a few very hard months. I do not see anyone who, apart from making speeches that look very good in NATO, who is looking for a negotiated solution", continued the minister, which has given the example of the fact that the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which connects Russia with Germany, is now undergoing maintenance. "We'll see if the maintenance is extended... until the cold comes," he asserted.
In addition, the Minister has warned that the speed to replace the energy demands obtained from Russia would not allow Europe's economic activity to continue". For this reason, he has opined that the situation "depends on how far Russia wants to go".
Without neglecting this issue, as he did a few weeks ago in Parliament, Giró has warned that a budget extension would put the Generalitat in trouble – also the central government, he has qualified – due to the energy cost overruns and has assessed that After a first round of contacts with the Parliament groups, this year it will be more difficult to approve the public accounts due to the electoral horizon of 2023.
In this sense, he stressed that "there will be a difficult economic situation. If the Generalitat has to extend the budgets, I am also talking about the Government of Spain, the budget will be insufficient due to inflation".
