MADRID, 28 Dic. (OTR/PRESS) –
The economic crisis is still there despite the good words of Sánchez and his economic vice president. The data does not lie and the Spanish economy has stagnated as it will continue to do, at least for the first half of next year. Despite this, and at the cost of the extra collection obtained with the sacrifice of all Spaniards, the government intends to approve a third package of measures to fight against inflation and, incidentally, and above all to campaign for the next municipal elections and regional authorities in May. With everyone’s money, without deflating the personal income tax rate, they sell us that the social shield remains intact, although with some changes. This taking into account that the aid since the pandemic has left a lot to be desired.
The struggle between the two souls of the government has been produced again and it could be said that each one has obtained something for their parish. The general discount of 20 cents on fuel is over, although it will continue for transport, fishing and agriculture. In exchange, VAT is lowered on some selected foods and is maintained for electricity and gas. However, Podemos has lost the battle to limit the rise in rents beyond 2% and full aid to those who have a variable-rate mortgage. Transportation bonuses are maintained and the 200-euro check for families to pensioners who do not even receive the Minimum Vital Income is extended. It seems that the experiments on Díaz baskets or threats to supermarkets have been left out of this new package of measures. What has triumphed are the measures proposed by the leader of the PP, who had been demanding that the government cut VAT on food for months.
Now we will see the effects that fuels will have on inflation and if it will be offset by the decreases in some foods. What is clear is that the government, despite having more than 30,000 million extra revenue, is not willing to return a significant part to the citizens via deflation of the personal income tax rate, the fairest measure, although it has decided and overwhelmingly to please the millions of pensioners who will see their pension increase by 8.5% as of January 2023. A lot of rhetoric, but not a word about the hunger lines, the misleading employment data or that Spain it is the only country that has not been able to recover the levels of wealth prior to the pandemic.