The Government sets itself the objective of approving the accounts on March 10
After sealing the agreement with the PSC and the commons, the Government has put the direct with the objective that the autonomous accounts can be approved in Parliament on March 10. The president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, has convened an extraordinary meeting of his executive council this Thursday to approve the budget project. The Minister of Economy of the Generalitat, Natalia Mas, has delivered the project to the Vice President of the Parliament, Alba Vergés, and this afternoon the Catalan Chamber begins the work for its processing. The Bureau and the board of spokespersons have accepted the document for processing and the calendar of the accounts has been launched, which the Government expects to approve in plenary session of Parliament in mid-March, as long as there are no unforeseen events.
Broadly speaking, the Generalitat’s budgets raise spending to 41,000 million. This is the first time in history that the Government’s figure exceeds 40,000 million, with an increase in spending and investment of almost 4,000 million compared to 2022, the highest annual increase in the last 17 years. According to the Minister of Economy, these accounts should serve to put an end to the phase of cuts, which began in 2011 with Artur Mas. Social spending takes 72% of the resources. Pere Aragonès has described them as ambitious and expansive budgets. The accounts of the Generalitat do not include some of the demands that the PSC put on the table to reach an agreement with the Government to approve the budgets. The issues on which the Socialists had the most influence were the fourth ring road in El Vallès, the Hard Rock in Vilaseca and the extension of the El Prat airport. The Catalan Government and the PSC committed themselves in writing to these three projects, but they have been left out of the accounts. There is no economic item dedicated to these matters. If there were, the commons would have backed out of the deal.
The Socialists have had to ‘swallow’ in other significant points of the budget. For example, those from Illa demanded that the Government freeze the items destined for the opening of new delegations abroad, the so-called ’embassies’. Recently, the Government announced the opening in Japan and the budget includes an investment of 108 million for the foreign action of the regional Executive. This budget increases by 10%. The other point in which the PSC has had to renounce its claims is the one that refers to respect for the legal framework. The Socialists asked for an explicit commitment from the Government with security, the legal system and respect for the legal framework. The accounts do not include any mention of it. TV3, meanwhile, in the eye of the hurricane due to the latest controversies, such as that of a program in which PSC voters were called Nazis, will see its budget increase. The Catalan audiovisual media corporation, which integrates TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio, increases its budget by 18%, up to 336 million.
#PSC #swallows #Catalan #embassies #Aragonès #budget