2023-08-24 10:22:22
The acting Finance Minister, María Jesús Montero, assured this Thursday that, despite the parliamentary calendar imposed by the investiture process for the next Prime Minister, her ministry continues with the preparation of the State Budget for 2024although he is aware that “in any case, there will be a delay in its approval” and some kind of extension of the current ones will be necessary.
The head of the Treasury admits that, in any case, it will be necessary to extend the 2023 Accounts for a while during the next year
In declarations in La Hora de la 1, on RTVE, Montero has said that he is expressly commissioned by the President of the goverment, Pedro Sanchez, to work on the State Budget project for 2024. “And we are working on it,” he has resolved. He explained that “obviously the will of the Government is to be able to approve the Budgets on time and in shape for them to come into force [después de] on December 31″, although he has admitted that “it is clear that the calendar can delay it, but that would happen in any case: a delay in approval“.
The head of the Treasury has said that her department has been doing all the work for weeks prior to the approval of a Budget project, “which basically consists of determining the perimeter where these public accounts have to be developed, works with Brussels, within the Government itself, with the macroeconomic forecasts, etc.”. And he added: “Therefore, we are going to continue working so that when the investiture is finished and the Government is appointed, this project can be promoted, but it is still premature to say that the budget project is being abandoned. Quite the opposite.”
budget calendar
In general, the work prior to the approval of a Budget project includes the possible revision of the macroeconomic outlook and the approval of spending ceiling (at the end of June or beginning of July), subject to the following year’s deficit and debt targets. At the end of July there is usually a call for regional and local representatives in the advise of Policy Tax and Financial (CPFF) and in the National Commission of Local Administration (CNAL) for assigning budget targets to territorial administrations.
The truth is that none of these previous steps have taken place so far, due to the calendar imposed by the celebration of the general elections on July 23.
The usual calendar of budget preparation usually includes negotiations with other political groups from the second half of August, before the approval of the budget project in the Council of Ministers, which should be before the September 30th although this date has been systematically breached in recent years.
Whether or not the Budget project for next year is approved, the Government in power must submit to the European Commission before the October 15th the so-called Budget Plan of Spain, with the basic guidelines for the accounts of all public administrations -State, autonomies and local corporations- for the following year. The European Commission has to examine whether these guidelines conform to those set forth from Brussels. On this occasion, the Spanish accounts must adjust to theThe new rules of budgetary discipline and reduction of the public deficit that, as planned, will be released in 2024 in the euro zone. The European Commission has the capacity to amend the accounts of the countries during the month of November.
In what would be a normal calendar, the State Budget project must be definitively approved by Congress and the Senate and published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) before December 31 to enter into force on the following January 1. If not, then the automatic extension of the previous year’s accounts, although it is possible to approve new Budgets with a delay with the new financial year already underway, with certain retroactive effects from January 1st.
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