The first thing to note is the increase in the 2024 budget: it was not clear a few days ago. So the short summary is this: the PP and Vox Government maintain social spending levels (without major changes), begin to stem the deficit and debt, and contain the investment impulse of recent years. Like all public accounts, they exude ideology: allocating funds to one sector or another may be a technical decision, but it is also ideological in many cases.
For example, increased funding for educational concerts reflects a political orientation that believes in the benefits of private education paid for (largely) by public funds. The same can be said for creating a game to promote bullfighting festivities (in times of pressure).
It is an ideological decision to withdraw aid from organizations that defend and promote the unity of the native language (such as the Ramon Llull Institute) and give it instead to those who believe the opposite (and who do not have these provisions in Botànic). . So much so that it is clear that the Valencian Academy of Languages (AVL), the regulatory authority of the Valencian language, has ruled that there are two different ways in which Valencian and Catalan can be called a common language (here and there) and that the law establishing this institution belongs to this institution. It establishes that all its decisions must be “taken into account” by all “publicly funded” organisations.
Even estimating a one-billion increase in tax collection could be considered an ideological decision based on the liberal belief that a tax cut would stimulate the economy and eventually lead to an increase in revenue from VAT and other taxes.
In this sense, the tax authority (Airef) allowed the new Consell to cover its back with a State delivery forecast that increased significantly compared to 2023 (16%) and mitigated the absence of the demanding (or imaginary) item.
In any case, the first accounts, with Carlos Mazón as president and Ruth Merino as head of the Treasury, are marked by the goal of bringing debt and deficit under control. There is one part that is not one’s own decision: the relaxation of financial rules has been agreed and the previous councilor had already warned that we need to start putting on the brakes.
Until now, the left Government had justified the need to increase the budget deficit and the resulting debt (the red figures of the Valencian Community have so far been undertaken by the State only through loans) in order to approach the average expenditure of the communities. related to basic public services. This goal was achieved. The question is whether the goal of equality between Valencian citizens and citizens with better-financed autonomies can be sustained without increasing the deficit and debts.
Budgets are like a little quilt in cold times; If one side is stretched, the other side will be missing. Therefore, these initial Mazón accounts respect the message he has been reiterating since the election campaign: social engagement remains at the same percentages as in recent years. The scissors have been applied in investments (Infrastructure realizes this) and in employment policies and support to companies; Previous president Ximo Puig focused efforts on social spending, positioning them as victims of already underfunding. So this scourge once again damages already weakened areas.
The 2024 budgets do not change the weight of the PP and Vox departments. The former continues to manage 95% of the Generalitat’s funds. The radical partner preferred symbolism to the management of heavily invested areas.