The Government He admits that he will have to start “a technical extension” of the Budgets of the Generalitat. The meetings with parties continue these days, as the ‘Councillor’ of Economy has admitted, Natalia Mas, in an interview on Catalunya Ràdio. Mas explained that he negotiates with all parliamentary groups without red lines even with the PSCalthough he has recognized that the negotiation is more advanced with the ‘commons’.
The affirmations of the ‘councilor’ clash with version that until now both the socialists and the ‘communs’ have given, who have raised their voices to claim that a “serious” negotiation has not been opened and that they have not seen the details of the numbers. But he has specified that they have met with the ‘communs’ up to three times and that tomorrow they will meet again, while the talks with PSC -with whom the Government meets this Thursday- and Junts.
Though oriol junqueras In the interview in EL PERIÓDICO, he pointed out that in order to negotiate with the party of Salvador Illa it was necessary to verify the commitment of the PSC with the reform of the crime of embezzlement, Mas has been clear when it has said that it is part of the possible arithmetic to approve the budgets without “red lines”.
The option to extend the 2022 accounts “for a few weeks” has been on the table since Junts left the Catalan Executive. Mas has insisted on the need for budgets given the situation the economy is experiencing. In any case, the estimates from the Catalan Executive would be an extension of a few weeks, as confirmed by various official sources.
The objective, insisted Mas, is to get the accounts approved by 2023 and present them to Parliament “in the coming weeks”. The head of Economy has reiterated the need to deploy “a social and economic shield” in the face of the evolution that the economy is experiencing.
spending ceiling
The spending ceiling for next year exceeds 3,000 million compared to 2022, which represents an increase of 10%. This will cause the Catalan public accounts to reach a new record, explained Mas. The Budgets will have a growth forecast of 4.4% for this year, which in 2023 would go to 1.7%. “The environment is complex” especially due to energy costs and the rise in the price of money, although the variable that shows the greatest “resilience” is the labor market, he said.
Mas has admitted that numerous options are being analyzed in tax matter and the outcome will depend on how the negotiations progress. In any case, the project inherited from the previous ‘minister’, Jaume Giró, “did not contemplate tax changes”.
The tax file
The ‘councillor’ explained that Deflate the regional income tax rate It would mean an impact of just three euros for the 30% of taxpayers with the lowest income and 24 euros for those with the highest income. For the Generalitat, he explained, they would mean 55 million, which is 15% of the Health budget. He has therefore criticized the measures that “look for headlines”which represents a high cost for the Generalitat and a very limited impact on an individual basis.
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Mas has defended a tax on emissions from large cruise ships and other environmental taxes and has not ruled out the solidarity tax to incomes greater than 175,000 euros, which the ‘communs’ place as an “essential” condition to support the accounts.
Mas has defended the reindustrialization process of the Nissan lands, which “is in the final stretch”, awaiting guarantees. “We have prepared a solution with 50% contributed by the ICF and another by private entities”, he explained. If the public part is not accepted, the Government prepares an alternative solution, he added.