The Generalitat Receives 200 Million Less Per Month Due to Lack of State Budgets

Finance and Economy Minister Ruth Merino demanded on Wednesday that the Spanish Government "immediately and urgently update" the advance payments of the 2025 financing system, "without which the Generalitat receives around 200 million euros less each month" compared to the resources the Ministry of Finance had communicated would be available this year, totaling 13.883 billion euros.

Merino denounced that, so far this year, the Generalitat has already stopped receiving 500 million euros "due to the central Government's inability to present and pass the 2025 General State Budgets (PGE) and the inaction of Finance Minister María Jesús Montero to update the advance payments of the financing system by decree," as the Government is currently paying the autonomous communities the extended amounts from 2023.

"I hope it doesn't happen like last year when Minister Montero pushed the regions to the brink of their financial capacity by not approving the Royal Decree Law updating the advance payments until July, even after having given up on presenting a budget project for 2024," stated the Finance Minister.

"By not transferring the announced and committed financing to the autonomous communities for 2025, the Government is leading us to a near-collapse situation, as in the case of the Valencian Community, we must add its refusal to finance through the extraordinary FLA the excess deficit of the previous year, around 3 billion. And all this in the year of reconstruction, for which we have already advanced 500 million of our own resources this year," Merino explained.

"I don't know what world a central Government lives in that fails to fulfill its constitutional obligation to present a budget project and has the audacity to excuse itself by saying it doesn't want to waste Parliament's time because it doesn't have guaranteed support to pass them," Merino asserted, demanding that the Government "not turn Valencians into hostages of its own parliamentary weakness."

"The urgencies of the Valencians cannot depend on the outcome of negotiations in dark rooms or the blackmail of nationalists to the Government," the Minister assured, recalling that, as the 2025 PGE have not been approved in due time and form, every day that passes without a Royal Decree Law being approved to update those advance payments to what was planned for this year, the regions will receive the advance payments from 2023.

"Now that everything indicates that the Spanish Government is once again failing to fulfill its obligation to present the PGE, every day that passes without updating the advance payments of the financing system to what the Government itself communicated to the autonomous communities in July for 2025 will endanger the timely payment of fundamental basic services," Merino denounced.

"The financial suffocation imposed by the Government harms the hundreds of suppliers who may suffer cash flow tensions caused by this situation, or the thousands of Valencians left without resources to finance health, education, and social services," Merino lamented.

In light of this situation, the Minister explained that the Generalitat has anticipated potential payment problems and has requested a temporary transfer from the Valencian Institute of Finance (IVF) to promptly address the payment of fundamental public services this month.

"Faced with a Government curtailed by the demands of its partners, the Consell has been able to present a budget project and maneuver in time to continue addressing the payments of fundamental services adequately," despite the "extremely delicate" treasury situation caused by the pending payments from the Spanish Government.