The Valencian Government has approved this Monday its budget for 2023. After a frenetic weekend to balance the accounts, the Minister of Finance, Arcadi Spain, has presented accounts that grow just 1.7% from 27,967 million 2022 to the 28,438 planned for next year. Thus, Spain has wanted to highlight that the real increase in spending grows by 6.8%.
The increase in spending is due to higher tax collection. Thus, an increase of 15.1% in direct taxes and 16.3% in indirect taxes is expected. In addition, Spain has valued in order to balance the accounts the “historic” increase in transfers of Government resources, which grew by 24.6%.
Despite the record number of transfers of the Financing Model for 2023 with 13,928 million, the Consell includes the claim item for underfinancing of 1,336 million.
But transfers and taxes are not the only thing that allows the Valencian Government to carry out some accounts without having to resort to fictitious items such as the one that was set up last year to compensate 1,000 million that the Government stopped entering the Valencian Community for the expenses derived from covid. On this occasion, the fact that the FLA has been refinanced and the debt repayment term extended has allowed the Consell to reduce financial charges by 900 million. Thus, financial liabilities are reduced by 12.8%. That yes, the interests (financial expenses) grow 28.3%, although they do not have as much repercussion because the absolute increase is little more than 100 million, with which the Consell wins.
These are the eighth budgets that the left-wing Executive approves in a show of internal stability despite the complications generated by governing in coalition. In fact, arriving on time and presenting the accounts at Les Corts this Monday (last year they were delayed a few days, although they ended up being endorsed in Parliament before the end of the year) had become an obsession for the executive to try to scare away the image of disunity after the dismissal of the Minister of Agriculture, Mireia Mollà, at the request of the vice president of her own party.
As for the organic classification, the Health budget is the largest of all ministries, already exceeding 8,200 million (a figure that represents 29% of the total budget of the Generalitat and an increase of 419 million compared to the previous year) . It should be noted that, in a pioneering way, the Valencian Mental Health Plan appears in these accounts, endowed with 40 million euros and in which young people will be one of the priorities. In addition, investments in health infrastructure continue (413 million).
In a statement, the Valencian Government indicates that Education comes next with a budget of 5,520 million, which represents 19.4% of the total and an increase over the previous budget of 317 million.
Likewise, the first vice-presidency and the Ministry of Equality and Inclusive Policies reach a budget of 2,308 million (which represents an allocation of 111 million more than in 2022). The line aimed at promoting personal autonomy and care for people in a situation of dependency, endowed with 462 million, stands out.
For their part, in relative terms, the ministries that are growing the most are those linked to the promotion of the productive fabric (Economy, Territory and Housing), “with the aim of dealing with the economic and energy crisis and the increase in prices”. In fact, the department that increased its staffing the most in relative values ??was Economy (22.9%) to 702 million euros. Sales, for its part, grew by 12.5%.
