The deployment of the Next Generation European recovery funds continues to distort the analysis of the execution of the Generalitat’s investments. Last year, the Government executed 85.5% of the initial budget if these European funds are not taken into consideration. In the 2023 execution report recently published by the Department of Economy, it is highlighted that “the analysis of the execution of the investments with respect to the initial budget makes it possible to visualize whether what was initially planned in the budgets has been executed” .
Throughout the year, new investments are added to the public accounts, so that the initial budget grows considerably. Last year, it went from almost 1.3 billion euros to more than 1.9 billion with the expansions. On the final amount, execution is 63.4%. The third figure provided by the report is the execution including the European funds, which rises to 94% of the initial budget.
According to the Generalitat report, “real investments increase by 291.3 million, 31.5% compared to 2022”. They were a total of 1,216 million. In the detail of the compliance of the accounts, it is highlighted that investments are growing due to contributions to new infrastructures, for example, education or health. And those of “road maintenance”, which were more important in 2022, fall.
In recent years, the Generalitat has maintained a high level of investment execution, unlike what happens with those budgeted by the State in Catalonia. In 2021, the State invested in real terms 36% of what was planned, while in 2022 it rose to 43%.
The other side of the budget execution is the collection achieved in the year as a whole. The non-financial revenues of the Generalitat in 2023 rose to 35,337 million euros, 10.6% more. The collection of taxes on property transfers and on documented legal acts, which are those directly linked to the real estate sector, fell, in cumulative terms, by 12.8% and 20.2%, respectively, “a fact that reflects the drop in sector”, explains Economia in the report. Revenues fell from May, but there was a more positive development in December. “Real estate transactions fell and the number of mortgages decreased as a result of the increase in interest rates,” says the report. Apart from the Generalitat’s own and transferred taxes, in 2023 “the liquidation of the financing model contributed 2,020.5 million, while the previous year they were zero”.
In the income chapter, it is highlighted that the wealth tax collection was reduced by 3.7%. The Department of Economy, headed by Natàlia Mas, justifies this because in the “previous financial year there was extraordinary income derived from tax inspection acts”. Most of the investigations are for fictitious transfers of address, either to another community or outside of Spain.
As for expenses, last year they rose to 37,779.3 million euros, 7.6% higher than those accounted for in 2022. “Staff expenses have increased due to increases in remuneration and contributions to Social Security and also for the increase in the number of personnel, especially in the field of education and health”. The remuneration bill alone rises to 10,507.8 million. That is 652 million more than in 2022.
