The Andalusian Government has presented its Budget for 2024 that breaks a record by reaching the 46,753.2 million euros, 2.5% more than the previous year, 1,149 million euros more. The Board approved its accounts and delivered them to the Andalusian Parliament in a Government Council telematically chaired by Juan Manuel Moreno, who attended the meeting. swearing in of the Constitution of Princess Leonor. The Government presented its accounts with complaints about “political instability” and the lack of data from an acting Executive. Neither the fiscal rules nor the payments on account for the next fiscal year are known. He also raised a claim of 1,000 million of annual deficit, which demands a regional financing system that it considers “mistreats” the community.
The Minister of Economy and Finance, Carolina Spaindefended that it is an eminently social Budget, which dedicates six out of every ten euros to health, education, dependency or employment policies (29,038.2 million euros). The Moreno Government continues to present all its comparisons in the accounts and in its policies regarding 2018, Five years ago, the last year that the PSOE was in the Junta de Andalucía. The PP has an absolute majority and a free hand to draw up its numbers.
Concerned about health
When the protests of unions and professionals grow and the opposition attacks Moreno in unison due to the deterioration in the Andalusian public healththe Andalusian Government has been defending for days that “never before have so many public resources been allocated” to health policies, with 14,246 million euros, 7.1% of the total. The other big game is educationwith 10,552 million (5%).
Andalusia foresees 2% growth, a figure that has “the endorsement of the Airef” (Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility) and is located “in the middle” of the figures of different independent analysts, between 2.1% of Independent Analysts of Andalusia and 1 .5% from the Economic Observatory of Andalusia. A “prudent” forecast, above that of the previous year, in a climate of “institutional instability” and in a “complicated context”, due to a global inflationary crisis, the high price of money and war. What in Andalusia is also aggravated by a prolonged drought that “burdens economic activity by 2%.” The Board predicts that the unemployment rate will drop to 17.9% and new 53,400 jobs (the forecast for this year was 68,300).
Inflation and revenue
The Andalusian Government expects that its tax revenues, through tax collection, will grow by 9.5% (up to 22,853 million euros). A rise that is explained by the increase in personal income tax and VATwhich will allow the Andalusian Government to enter 1,990 million euros more in this way despite the tax cuts approved by the Andalusian Executive in recent years. The Minister of Economy admitted that this increase is explained because the 2022 settlement will be entered in 2024 and “the extraordinary collection must be adjusted, which was not accounted for in the deliveries to accounts, mainly due to inflation”, which is why the Board has that money in your favor. However, Spain pointed out, no more tax cuts are planned, because Airef itself has warned that this increase in collection is due to “temporary increases and recommends not consolidating increases in spending or not using that money to lower taxes because it is an extraordinary situation,” explained the Andalusian counselor. The head of the Treasury also reproached the Government for not informing the communities about whether it will extend the reductions in VAT on energy and food, although in the plan sent to Brussels “it implied that it would not continue.”
The Andalusian Government defended that the community “is not a fiscal hell” and has become the second region where “the least taxes are paid.” With six tax cuts approved since 2019, the community ““stops earning 900 million euros a year”especially due to reductions in personal income tax, property transfer taxes (-28%), with a decrease in addition to the purchase and sale of homes, decreases in inheritances and donations (-3.3%) and deletion of heritage. However, the increase in collection due to inflation allows us to speak of greater tax collection by the Board.
The Government defended that each year it generates “less new debt” and that the amount allocated to investments grew by 6.2%, up to 5,809 million euros. The money that the Junta de Andalucía allocates to pay its 292,000 public employees It amounts to 15,591.6 million euroswith an increase of 5.4% explained by a 2.5% increase in salaries and a forecast “of an increase in workforces in education and health.”
Although 76% of the 2024 budget expenses will be financed with own resources that come from the Junta de Andalucía, what is known as self-financing, the European Funds will also play an important role in these accounts, with 3,564 million euros, This figure is 15.5% lower than the previous year (655 million euros less). This decrease is due to the end of the 2014-2020 framework and lack of knowledge of the eligibility criteria to develop projects included in the 2021-2027 framework.