The previous Economy Minister, Jaume Giró, in the ranks of Junts, broke in July 2021 with a long tradition of Ministers who did not participate in the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council (CPFF). He was there telematically. The now head of the department, Natàlia Mas, has once again called on this body convened by the Government with the intention of approving the new deficit path that the autonomous communities will have in view of the general State budgets for 2024.
Of course, the Council of Ministers will also have to validate the spending ceiling and the deficit objectives for the coming years.
But he won’t be at tomorrow’s meeting, but as is usual on the part of the Generalitat, there will be second lines: the Secretary General of Economy, Josep Maria Vilarrúbia, and the Director General of Budgets, Esther Pallarols.
The Government has always argued that the CPFF is not a space for real debate, but merely “a meeting where information is transmitted” and where the Spanish Executive, with its sole vote, has an absolute majority. Furthermore, the Ministry of Economy affirms that it already has open bilateral negotiations in which its own financing for Catalonia will be addressed. The appointment will be, according to the Government, the first quarter of 2024.
Mas had attended CPFF meetings. She did it in February and October 2020, when she was general secretary of the Economy, with Pere Aragonès at the head of the ministry.
