The Generalitat's spending from one financial year to the next remains at record levels.

BarcelonaLast year, the Catalan government contained its carryover expenditures (shifted spending) to €4.726 billion, almost the same amount as in 2023 (€4.731 billion). In any case, this is a record level, according to data collected in the 2024 general account, prepared by the General Comptroller's Office, which oversees public accounts.

Last year, the Catalan government's accounts were in the hands of the ERC (Republican Left) party, with Pere Aragonès as president, until the May 12 elections, which resulted in the rise to power of the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), led by Salvador Illa, in August. The stabilization of the shifted spending figure was a result of greater availability of budgetary credit due to the positive trend in revenue. In 2024, the Catalan Tax Agency (ATC) collected a total of €5.286 billion, the second-highest figure ever achieved with its own and transferred taxes, only slightly surpassed by the figure for 2006 (€5.362 billion).

The figure for displaced spending consolidates a budgetary shortfall that, as the Comptroller's Office has stated on more than one occasion, has become "chronic." The year-on-year trend during the 2014-2024 period "generally shows an upward trend, except in those years—such as 2015—in which credit extensions were implemented to finance deferred spending from previous years," according to the report. However, the current PSC executive placed the average payment period to suppliers in June below the legal limit of 30 days for the eighth consecutive month. Specifically, it was 27.57 days, 5.77 days less than the same period last year (33.34) and below the 30 days stipulated in the regulations.

The bulk of overdue bills corresponds to the Catalan Health Service (SCS) and the Catalan Health Institute (ICS), with 3.047 billion euros. The remaining 1.649 billion correspond to the administration of the Generalitat (Catalan Government) and autonomous entities. Within this section, 478.3 million euros stand out in estimated obligations of the action plan with Renfe, followed by 349 million euros corresponding to social security contributions for personnel working for the Generalitat (Catalan Government) administration, relating to three months of deferral, according to the document.

Healthcare, the most affected by the lack of resources

The healthcare sector is the most affected by this lack of resources. As of June 30 of this year, things had not improved, as the Health Department had gone from an initial budget of 11.423 billion to 14.023 billion. The Metges de Catalunya union has repeatedly warned of the gap between the initial budget and the final, effective budget: more than two-thirds of this amount typically corresponds to the debt generated by healthcare services for CatSalut and the ICS.

"As long as the healthcare budget remains below actual healthcare expenditure, between 3 and 5 billion euros of annual public debt will continue to be generated, a situation to which, unfortunately, we are becoming accustomed and which only worsens year after year."

The Audit Office recommends in its report that the budget of entities such as CatSalut "should contain sufficient and adequate funds to cover all foreseeable and unavoidable expenses, in accordance with expected revenue."

The strengthening of public accounts is linked to regional financing. The PSC and ERC agreed on a formula that will allow the Catalan Tax Agency (ATC) to collect all taxes, starting with personal income tax. However, the fact is that the Catalan administration will not be able to intervene, nor is it clear whether it will be fully involved, in the collection of the main tax in the fiscal system until 2028, according to the master plan commissioned to Indra to specify a roadmap for the future Catalan Treasury.

The displaced expenditure of the SCS and the ICS traditionally corresponds to the budget items corresponding to health and pharmacy agreements of the SCS and to Chapter II (current expenditure on goods and services) of the ICS, which present budgetary insufficiency. Although, in general terms, these budget allocations would cover practically all annual expenditure, "the fact of having to face the deferred expenditure from the previous year makes the existence of displaced expenditure chronic year after year," as the Comptroller's Office warned on more than one occasion.

The remainder of the total figure, which corresponds to the general administration and administrative entities, "does not generally respond to reasons of budgetary insufficiency," but is usually related "to the specificities of some expenses, such as the current payment deferral for social security contributions, and the long processing time for grants to local daycare centers."