Treasury oxygenates the worst-funded regions without changing the model

In particular, the Ministry of Finance announced that after the CPFF, the autonomies will receive 24% more money from the State next year, which will exceed 134,000 million. The Valencian Community benefits from the distribution of the cake as it will receive 13,540.6 million, 26.5% more than the previous year and the highest in the historical series. Of these, 11653.15 million correspond to 2023 installments, and 1,887.5 million correspond to the previous year’s swaps.

In addition, the increase means a shortening of the gap in resources exposed to the Community of Valencia compared to other regions, as it is two and a half points above the growth of average transfers in the State as a whole.

This increase in resources allocated to the regions was the main claim that Finance Minister Arcadi España, who is the first to take part in this body that brings the Treasury together with the regional council members of the branch every year, came to the meeting.

The sensations at the end of the meeting were contentment among the Valencian delegation. On the one hand, because the Government is convinced of the need to increase its contribution to the regions in the context of inflation. In fact, Generalitat will receive 2,835 million more than in the previous year, which, according to Arcadi Spain, will serve to prepare “broad” regional budgets.

The Minister’s environment yesterday also influenced the victory, which assumed that these transfers increased more in the Valencian Community than in other regions.

The glass is half full

In any case, what Generalitat representatives overlooked was the possibility that the Treasury would set a timeline to consider comprehensive reform of the financing system; this was the only guarantee that the Valencian Government could count on more resources. With a friendly government and due to measures of grace like the one achieved yesterday in Madrid, which comes to the doorstep of the election year.

Montero promised the Treasury would “soon” send a document to the autonomies in response to the districts’ claims to reform proposals, interpreted in the Generalitat as a way to “activate” the process.

There was not much optimism in PPCV. Its chairman, Carlos Mazón, blamed Consell leader Ximo Puig for “not clenching his teeth or closing his fist” to demand funding “the Valencia Community deserves”. Mazón thought that the still lack of “concrete measures” on reform was an “insult” to autonomy.

Airef will seek solutions to regional debts

The body will assess the sustainability of the region’s obligations at the request of Valencia

Yesterday, Generalitat sold out the fact that the Ministry of Finance had accepted Arcadi Spain’s proposal to win a study on the viability of debt to the Independent Financial Responsibility Authority (Airef) as a small battle won in the battle against underfunding. lands.

Minister Montero promised that the agency would develop an analytical document on the causes of the excessively high volume of debt accumulated by communities and directly linked to the financing system.

In the case of Valencia, almost 80% of its liabilities are considered to be attributable to the few resources it receives from the State. Thus, Arcadi Spain suggested yesterday that Airef seek “solutions” to a problem where the autonomies are “compromising their economic viability”, especially in a context like the current one where an increase in interest rates raises interest rates. price payable for financing.

In the Minister’s view, solutions must be sought for the “double wage” that autonomy pays: underfunding and paying more for this debt. What the ministry did not disclose was Valencia’s proposal to create asymmetric deficits to provide more margins to the worst-funded regions. However, the Treasury confirmed that the autonomies will loosen indebtedness capacity from 0.1% of GDP to 0.3%.