The Catalan Executive after having withdrawn the Budgets from Parliament to give itself more room for negotiation with ERC. The Government of Salvador Illa must now reopen accounts that were expected to be 10.3% more than last year and 22.8% more than in the last Budgets. These are the keys to what’s coming from now on:
What margin does the Government have to negotiate? The Budgets presented by the Government grew by 9,126 million euros. Of these, 5,998.65 million euros have already been exhausted with these credit supplements. That means that, on paper, . However, a good part of that money is already committed because either they are finalist funds or it is committed by agreements with Commons or social agents. The Government estimates the money that may be at stake in the negotiation with the Republicans between 800 and 1,000 million euros, although this amount may vary.
Will you be able to pay the salaries of public employees? The Minister of Economy and Finance, , had stated that without Budgets there could be treasury tensions starting in April. In reality, payrolls have never been in question, since the law establishes that the Administration must pay priority to the payment of salaries and interest on the debt. However, . The decree plans to allocate 3,430 million to payrolls, so these are no longer a threat to the Catalan coffers.
What can be done? With the supplement, the operating expenses of the Generalitat and all the programs already implemented whose cost or endowment have increased are guaranteed. This includes health care agreements, pharmaceutical spending, resources for dependency or bonuses for public transportation.
Does the supplement cover everything? No, and it has also been done for the maximum possible amount, according to the counselor. That is, no more extensions like this can be made. This means that, if there is no Budget, some 1.5 billion euros could remain unspent.
What can’t the Government do? It cannot launch new programs or investments. For example, it cannot make a second call for the Neighborhood Plan ―as agreed with the Commons―, which seeks to remodel urban areas that need comprehensive intervention, nor inject new resources into the .
Can you fulfill the agreements with teachers and ‘mossos’? Yes, you can comply with the salary agreements reached with these groups. Now, until there are Budgets, according to the counselor, staff expansions can be carried out.
