Consell is starting to forge regional alliances to gain leverage with the Exchequer as it claims to have a less demanding deficit target than others, known as the asymmetric deficit. Ruth Merino, spokeswoman for the Valencian Administration, announced yesterday that the Generalitat was already in talks with some autonomous regions such as Murcia; these involved a mismatch between income and expenditure similar to that in Valencia, which was three times the figure set by the Government. The next Council on Fiscal and Fiscal Policy (CPFF) will discuss the possibility of setting individualized targets for each region.
At this week’s CPFF, the 0.1% open track for the group of autonomies was approved, but María Jesús Montero opened the door to creating different tracks for each region within that figure; This is a point already deemed necessary by Botànic and remains valid now. It is maintained by the Carlos Mazón Council. In any case, the Minister of Finance passed the ball to the regional governments, stating that this was a zero-sum operation and that some should tighten the budget deficit so that they had more flexibility on the deficit, as Consell and Murcia demanded. more belts. . He called on them to negotiate among themselves, and that’s what Consell did.
Both Carlos Mazón and his Murcian counterpart Fernando López Miras included a 0.3% deficit in their 2024 accounts, three times larger than Moncloa’s figure. There is a difference of 290 million in Valencia and 80 million in Murcia. Despite the instability, Consell insists it has no plans to change its accounts and Murcia remains on the path to stability.
Both appear to be two of the worst-treated regions by the financing system and also deficit compatible. Mazón and López Miras, who had great harmony between them, would thus expand their common front before the central administrator of Pedro Sánchez, with whom they maintained their common position on water or infrastructure.
Merinos did not want to disclose which other regional governments the dialogue was opened with; This is relevant because in order for the Valencian Community and Murcia to keep the deficit rate at 0.3%, the others will have to absorb budget excesses. they would occur between both regions. If they had been given a differentiated deficit, the remainder of the common regime autonomies would have had to bear a cut of close to 370 million.
The Minister of Finance condemned Montero for leaving the responsibility for the agreement to the regions, since it was the ministry of Cristóbal Montoro (PP) that determined the path of each autonomy in 2013, the only year in which the Government determined these personalized deficits. “We demand that they do their duty. “The fact that the communities disagree is not an excuse,” said Merino, insisting that “they will not divide us”, which Madrid’s Isabel Díaz Ayuso had already expressed at Tuesday’s Mazón summit.
As the next CPFF arrives with no date yet, Consell is keeping his eye on Montero. Merino repeated that the Generalitat’s budget “is what the Valencians need and will remain that way” and did not want to consider possible sanctions from the Government for this pending negotiation. “We logically think about everything that could happen. But we are still in the process,” he said.
We are willing to negotiate removal
Regarding the debt, Merino did not rule out going to the announced bilateral negotiations with Moncloa to negotiate amnesty; Although this prospect disturbed Genoa, Vox did not like it either, as it was contrary to the amnesty of territorial obligations. “We will speak to everyone necessary,” said the spokesman, who will in any case wait to receive a “serious and firm offer” to assess whether they will attend the appointment.