Yesterday, the Generalitat showed its discomfort with the preparation of the budgets for the year 2024. In a letter to the Ministry of Finance, the Minister of Economy, Natàlia Mas, called on the central government to establish an autonomous deficit target of 1%. The current system is "unfair and disproportionate" because it asks the autonomies to reach zero deficit by achieving a balance between expenses and income, he pointed out.
According to sources consulted by the ministry, the system should be articulated equitably between the central, regional and local administration. "Considering that the deficit target for Spain as a whole is 3%, the Spanish Government should distribute it more proportionately. Communities account for a third of the State's total expenditure, which is why it is fair that its target is 1%", they say. Last year, Catalonia closed with a deficit of 1.5% after exceeding the target of 0.3%.
In the letter addressed to Minister María Jesús Montero, the Department of Economy and Finance also demands from the Central Government to obtain data relating to the revenue forecast for the year 2024. "As usual, the ministry should have facilitated the information in July, but this year it has not been like that", point out these sources, who remember the impact that the holding of the general elections at the end of the month had.
The Ministry of Economy adds that the ministry should also facilitate the liquidation of the budgets for the year 2022, which indicates the amount that the Government still has pending to enter for that year and that the State will disburse the 2024. The Generalitat trusts that this is a relevant amount of income. In the letter, Mas recalls that the reports published by Airef "predict that the liquidation of the 2022 model will be high", so it is "essential to know the amount".
The two pieces of information – the one relating to the revenue forecast (advance) and the revenue pending settlement of the 2022 financial year – are key to the preparation of next year's budgets, since the resources of the Central Administration account for around 80% of the Catalan budget.
While it is true that the Department of Economy and Finance could make estimates about the amount of income, Mas prefers to have the necessary information as soon as possible to prepare the budgets in the most adjusted way possible.
The Generalitat emphasizes obtaining the data relating to the liquidation. In the letter, Mas points out that "although the foreseeable situation of budgetary extension of the general budgets of the State at the beginning of 2024 may make it difficult to forecast the deliveries on account of the revenues of the autonomous regions, this is no reason not to be able to have of the 2022 liquidation forecast”.
