Maria Jesus Montero. /
A report indicates that their income would increase by 3.28% with the adjusted population criterion, but the regional government rejects it
The Region of Murcia would be the fifth most benefited community – behind Extremadura, Aragón, Cantabria and La Rioja – if the adjusted population system proposed last week by the Ministry of Finance to reform the regional financing system is applied, according to a analysis prepared by the Foundation for Applied Economics Studies (Fedea).
Minister María Jesús Montero opened the debate last Friday to reform the system with a proposal based on a new population calculation that gives more weight to health and educational spending. Said formula is adjusted to demographic and geographical factors to determine the cost of providing services, a criterion demanded by communities with depopulation problems. The Murcian Minister of Finance, Luis Alberto Marín, expressed his rejection by considering that “the sufficiency and equity that we demand are more important aspects than the adjusted population.” I also regret that there is no talk of the equalization fund for under-financed regions.
Although Fedea values positively that the Ministry has maintained in its proposal the “core” of the measures defended by the 2017 expert commission, it nevertheless criticizes the use in the adjusted population formula “of ‘ad-hoc’ variables that introduce elements arbitrariness in the calculation of the spending needs of the autonomous communities “, says the director of Fedea, Ángel de la Fuente.
The formula proposed by the minister favors communities that have depopulation problems
According to Fedea’s calculations, the Treasury’s proposal would “very appreciably” increase the spending needs attributed to Extremadura (+ 8.6%) and Aragón (+ 7%) and would reduce those of the Canary Islands (-3%) and Galicia (- 2.7%). In addition to these two communities, the other regions that would see their spending needs reduced with the new formula would be the Valencian Community (-1.7%), Catalonia (-1.58%), Madrid (-1.05%) and Andalusia (-0.54%). On the other hand, with the new calculation proposed, together with Extremadura and Aragón, the other regions that obtain an increase in their spending needs are La Rioja (+ 5.41%), Cantabria (+ 4.51%), Murcia (+ 3.28%), Castilla-La Mancha (+ 3.14%), Asturias (+ 2.72%), Castilla y León (+ 2.54%) and the Balearic Islands (+ 2%).
Avoid “tailored suits”
If the cost formula is correct, a distribution of the system’s resources in proportion to the adjusted population would ensure that all communities can offer similar benefits to their citizens, even though these have higher costs in some territories than in others.
Fedea specifies that it is not yet talking about the effective distribution of the resources of the financing system, but about an ideal distribution formula based on the estimated costs of providing a homogeneous basket of services and benefits throughout the country. Ángel de la Fuente emphasizes that the “most debatable part” of the Treasury proposal has to do with the introduction of “two ‘ad hoc’ adjustments” that mean falling back into one of the “most persistent vices” of the financing system : the tendency to try to make “tailored suits” instead of looking for “sensible” general distribution rules.
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