Solbes offers regions morecontrol over purse strings

17 June 2004
 
MADRID – Spain’s Treasury Minister Pedro Solbes proposed changing the law Thursday to give the regions more say in setting their budgets.

In a series of proposed changes to the Budgetary Law, Solbes said the autonomous communities should have more power be able to establish their own fiscal objectives, instead of central government.

It could be an important step to allow the regions more power, something which the Socialists promised to do.

Solbes also called for “budgetary stability” as the government set its budget for next year.

The Spanish parliament set next year’s public spending limit at EUR 121,537 million.

It reached this figure after agreeing a commitment on public spending  to maintain budgetary stability over the next three years.
 
The parliament approved a public spending surplus of 0.1 percent of the gross domestic product next year.

This will rise to 0.2 percent of the GDP in 2006 then 0.4 percent in 2007.

Solbes defended the agreement reached with the Council of Tax and Finance policy and endorsed by the council of ministers.
 
He said that budgetary stability is a “indisepensible element” of any economy.
 
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news