The Catalan government needs a budget to function properly. Currently, it is still operating under the extended 2023 budget, which severely limits the administration's room for maneuver and leaves it short of approximately €1.5 billion. This amount remains unused because new expenses or projects cannot be included due to the lack of a budget. This sum is equivalent to the annual allocation of departments such as the Department of Business and Labor or the Department of Universities and Research. The truth is, citizens deserve a government that operates with a budget that reflects the country's current needs, not figures that were based on the reality of three years ago. Furthermore, having a budget would allow the government to make the most of the resources generated by record tax revenues thanks to economic growth. This includes both taxes in which Catalonia participates, such as personal income tax (IRPF), and those collected directly and transferred to the government (inheritance and property transfer taxes) under the current financing system.
Only in this way will the Catalan government be able to implement the economic and social policies that the PSC has agreed upon with Comuns and also with the employers' associations –Fomento del Trabajo and Pimec– and the unions –UGT and CCOO–, which include issues that concern citizens, such as housing. But one of the partners, ERC, is missing from this table to finalize the budget due to a breakdown of trust between the parties.
The Republicans maintain that they do not have full guarantees that the commitments made regarding future income tax revenue will be honored. Therefore, efforts will have to be made to secure their support for processing—and also approving—the budget. President Salvador Illa, who has shown a willingness to provide assurances to ERC, has decided to move forward and push through the budget proposal starting this Friday, although The Republican leader, Oriol Junqueras, threatens to block himThe draft budget increases spending by more than €9 billion compared to 2023, reaching approximately €50 billion, an unprecedented level considering the budget three years ago. It is true that the Republicans guarantee they will support supplementary credits to allow the Generalitat (Catalan government) to obtain additional resources. However, this approach, which last year was used through three supplementary credits totaling €3.9367 billion, significantly limits the government's options. Furthermore, it does not guarantee access to all the funds that could be used with a fully approved budget, condemning the administration to a very inefficient way of working. Last year, the Catalan government had to complete more than 2,300 budget processing files every time an expenditure was required, simply because the budget was extended. Therefore, it is necessary to demand an effort of dialogue, commitment, and responsibility in order to have budgets that citizens need.
