The Government once again approves the deficit path that the Senate overturned a week ago

On Tuesday, the Government gave its approval once again to the budget stability objectives, an important step towards finalizing the 2024 public accounts. This comes after the previous attempt was blocked by the PP in the Senate. The deficit limits for the State, communities, municipalities, and Social Security have been set at 2.7%, 0.1%, 0%, and 0.2% of GDP respectively.

Despite having a month to reinitiate the process, the Government decided to expedite the deadlines to avoid further delays in the already overdue budgets. The spokesperson for the ministry, Pilar Alegría, emphasized the importance of working efficiently to deliver the budgets as soon as possible.

The deficit path will now return to the Congress of Deputies where it is expected to progress with support from the Government’s parliamentary partners. However, it is anticipated that the PP will once again block the initiative in the Senate.

The situation following the potential second veto in the Senate is uncertain, as there are no guidelines for such a scenario. The fiscal rules have been suspended between 2020 and 2023, leaving no previous deficit path to follow.

María Jesús Montero, from the Government, argues that if the PP blocks the deficit path again, the one included in the Stability Program sent to Brussels last year should be applied. However, the PP disagrees, stating that without approved stability objectives, General State Budgets cannot be prepared.

The opposition party reaffirms that the autonomy-approved public accounts will not decline, a claim that is rejected by the first vice president.