The new extension of the PGE would already be a reality. The political uncertainty that has been generated in recent months after the 23-J elections has led the King to ‘let’s go’ to the PP candidate, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, to form a government. Thus, the date for his investiture, which has been set for September 26 and 27, certifies the need to extend the General State Budget (PGE) for next year. This is because the bill should be submitted to the Cortes before the end of September, for its parliamentary processing and entry into force on January 1.
In its article 134, the Constitution establishes that the General State Budgets must be presented in Congress “at least three months before the expiration of those of the previous year”, but with the date of Feijóo’s investiture, which could not prosper forcing . to a new debate with another candidate weeks later, it becomes very difficult to adjust in time and form to the constitutional provision.
In fact, the preparation of the PGE usually starts in July with the call of the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council, as well as the National Commission of Local Administrations, to inform autonomous communities and town halls of the deficit targets set, procedures that do not They have been carried out when Spain is in the electoral period.
No spending ceiling news
But the same article of the Constitution establishes that “if the Budget Law is not approved before the first day of the corresponding financial year, the Budgets of the previous year will be considered automatically extended until the approval of the new ones.” One piece of information that augurs the budget extension is that the Ministry of Finance and Public Function is not planning to define a new non-financial spending limit for the State, known as the spending ceiling, until a new government is formed by 2024, according to source information. It is from the Ministry to Europa Press.
This limit or ceiling is a step prior to the elaboration of the General State Budgets and serves, precisely, as a management tool for them, since it is the limit with which the Public Administration has to comply with the objectives of budget stability.
From the extension of Montoro to that of Montero
This would be the ninth extension of some Budgets since the arrival of democracy. The longest-lived accounts were those designed by Minister Cristóbal Montoro for 2018, which were in force for three consecutive years, until 2021, when the socialist time and form. The PGE is one of the most important regulations of a Government, since they make up the bulk of the Executive’s economic policy. These accounts include committed investments, transfers to autonomous communities, pensions, health items or unemployment benefits, among other points.
However, the extension does not entail a great alteration in the economic plans of the future Government, since it can adopt some measures by decree law to better adjust the economic policy and, in any case, it can always approve new Budgets for 20 24 that enter in force as soon as they are approved in the Cortes, although the exercise has already begun. María Jesús Montero has indicated this Thursday that her intention is to continue working so that a new Government is appointed that can promote the Budget project.
The revaluation of pensions, guaranteed
The extension, in any case, would not compromise the revaluation of pensions according to the CPI, which was guaranteed by the latest pension reform led by José Luis Escrivá. Moreover, it is most likely that said revaluation will be less than that of 2022, when inflation reached 8.4%. The same would happen with the increase in public salaries.
What the new government does have to do before the end of this year is to decide what to do with the aid deployed due to the consequences of the war in Ukraine, such as the reduction in VAT on food on electricity, which was extended by decree law until January 1, 2024.
