MADRID, 27 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coordinator of the economic area of the PP, Juan Bravo, has advanced that his party could be willing to not block the objectives of budgetary stability and deficit in the Senate, where they have an absolute majority, if the Ministry of Finance gives more room for spending to the autonomous communities.
Although he has clarified that the PP has not yet decided on its vote for the objectives in the Upper House, Bravo has indicated that this greater spending capacity for the different territories would be “a first gesture” for the deficit path to overcome its process in the Senate.
Specifically, what the PP’s economic spokesman in Congress also criticizes is that the Ministry of Finance’s proposal distributes the deficit capacity to 97% for the State and 3% for the Autonomous Communities. “If there really is a will, there is a first gesture for the autonomous communities, to try to get the PP’s favorable vote,” Bravo stressed in statements to RNE’s ‘Parliament’ reported by Europa Press.
However, the economic coordinator has clarified that he has not yet received any proposal from the department headed by María Jesús Montero and she has not had “any intention of speaking anything.” “There is time to try to find some type of agreement,” Juan Bravo added.
These budget stability and public debt objectives for all public administrations were already approved on January 10 by the Congress of Deputies. Despite the vote against PP, Vox and UPN, the Government managed to move them forward with the support of the rest of the parliamentary groups.
The objectives set a public deficit of 3% in 2024 for all administrations. In the case of the autonomies, a target of 0.1% was set, for local entities a budget balance was established (0%) and for Social Security the deficit was set at 0.2%.
Now the objectives will go to the Senate, where they could decline if the PP with its absolute majority votes against. Something that the Government does not contemplate and that if it happens, the objectives set in the Stability Program sent to Brussels in April would be raised.
This practice, which would mean a lower spending capacity for the CCAA, is supported by a report from the State Attorney’s Office, as stated by the Minister of Finance on repeated occasions.
However, Juan Bravo believes that this report does not exist. “We are used to talking about reports from the State Attorney’s Office that do not exist,” stressed the economic coordinator of the PP. Bravo has commented on this in reference to the reports on ‘VAT Month 13’ and that of deliveries on account for the year 2019.
In this sense, the ‘popular’ deputy for Seville has recommended the minister to seek agreement and consensus with the rest of the political parties. “That’s where things are built, not with imposition,” he added.
In another vein, Juan Bravo believes that the reduction of the working day to 37.5 hours per week without loss of salary is something that has to be agreed between the employers and the unions. “Let the others come to an agreement,” he said. In contrast, the PP advocates a system that allows greater family conciliation, with a bank of hours that translates into greater flexibility for families and companies.
