The government set a spending ceiling at 198,221 million, rising 1.1% from 2022. This marks the boundary for border public administrations in 2023 and serves as the groundwork for detailing the General Budgets of the State for the upcoming fiscal year. The Executive Board confirmed that the finance ministry teams and the Second Vice Presidency, representing both coalition sides, have agreed on a spending cap that stands as the largest in history. Excluding European contributions from the Next Generation fund, the total amounts to 173,065 million, up 1.9%. For Social Security, transfers reached 19,888 million, an 8.1% increase over the current year.
The announcement came from Finance Minister María Jesús Montero and First Vice-President and Minister of Economic Affairs Nadia Calviño. They outlined the macroeconomic picture that will underpin next year’s budget calculations. These figures frame the baseline assumptions for growth, inflation, and public investment, and they set the stage for policy choices that affect households and businesses across the country and beyond the border—an issue of interest to observers in Canada and the United States tracking how neighboring economies coordinate fiscal directories.
Direct | The government maintains a growth forecast of 4.3% for this year while moderating the 2023 projection to 2.7%.
In the prior year, the spending cap reached a record high of 196,142 million, mirroring the late-2020s surge in allocations. Around 25,622 million for 1.2022 was included, aided by approximately 26,000 million from the European NextGeneration funds, making the leap possible for the first time. The aim is to extend this policy through another year, leveraging Brussels-approved relaxations of financial rules while remaining committed to fiscal responsibility. The government still projects a deficit of 5% of GDP this year and 3.9% next year. If the forecasts hold, the overall cash gap would have fallen by roughly 60% since the pandemic, underscoring a gradual return toward balance. The deficit for autonomous communities has been adjusted from 0.1% to 0.3% of GDP, with the central government accounting for 3.4%.
Observers note that inflation remains a risk, with price pressures likely to persist through the summer. Final data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) show that the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.9% in June from May, and the annual rate climbed to 10.2%, a level not seen since April 1985. This backdrop makes budget negotiations sensitive, as households and firms recalibrate their expectations for prices, wages, and public support.
In this context, government officials acknowledge that reaching agreement on the General Government Budget project for 2023 will be challenging. The plan includes a defense spending path aimed at reaching 2% of GDP by 2029—a target that has drawn political debate. Some coalition partners, including United We Can and the ERC, have signaled opposition to increases in defense spending, instead urging stronger measures to expand social spending and protect vulnerable populations.
According to government insiders, the new budgets are expected to continue the push for economic transformation, job creation, inflation containment, public service improvement, and the ecological transition. Markers of policy direction point to sustained investment in critical sectors, streamlined public services, and measures designed to shield households from price volatility, while balancing fiscal consolidation with growth-oriented initiatives. In parallel, markets and partner economies will be watching how these plans unfold and interact with global fiscal conditions, including developments in North America, where fiscal policy and economic cycles influence cross-border trade, investment, and cooperation. (Source attribution: national statistics office, government briefings)