Montero will present a proposal to reform financing to the autonomous communities in two months
The first vice president and Minister of Finance will present to the autonomous communities a proposal to reform the regional financing model, which expired in 2014 despite still being in force, within a period of about two months (in January or February of next year). It was one of the announcements that María Jesús Montero made to those responsible for the territorial branch at the meeting of the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council that met this Monday in Madrid.
The Government has once again presented to the autonomies the same deficit path that Junts overturned in the Congress of Deputies in July of last year. This implies that it establishes, once again, at 0.1% the gap between income and expenses that regional governments could afford each year between 2026 and 2028. This gap gives them a fiscal margin of 5,485 million for the entire period. The formation of Carles Puigdemont has conditioned his support for the path of stability to the Executive granting a little more oxygen to the communities.
In reality, part of that oxygen will come to them through historic deliveries on account. Next year, the autonomies will receive the historic figure of 157,731 million in advances for tax revenues that are exceeding all expectations thanks to the boost of the economy (mainly private consumption and investment) and employment. This amount represents 7% more than what they will end up receiving throughout this year. To that amount must be added another 12,569 million euros for the positive settlement of 2024, a year in which income via taxes also exceeded forecasts.
The Government has improved the growth forecast this year by two tenths to 2.9%. This new estimate and the debt forecasts (the liabilities of all administrations closed the third quarter at 103.2% of GDP, according to the Bank of Spain) will allow the Executive to define the spending ceiling or non-financial spending limit for the 2026 General State Budgets, which will be approved this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers.
