"The Budget is a result of the recovery and will help consolidate the recovery" says Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

Following the meeting held with the Minister for the Treasury and the Public Administration Services, Cristóbal Montoro, the Vice-President of the Government reported that the General State Budget approved on Friday will commence its passage through Parliament on Tuesday. The government estimates that it will be published at the end of this week and that the senior officials at each ministerial department will present their corresponding items between 18 and 20 August. The global debate on the Budget could be held between 25 and 26 August.

Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría highlighted that the recovery has allowed for the Budget to be designed based on three essential pillars: strengthening the Welfare State, returning the efforts made to our citizens and increasing investment.

More than half the Budget - 53.5% - will be allocated to social spending which will lead to certain budgetary items being notably increased, such as long-term care, explained the Vice-President of the Government. Furthermore, financing earmarked for the regional governments and local authorities will be increased by more than 7.9%, fundamentally to also be passed on to social spending.

With the aim of repaying the efforts made by citizens, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría highlighted that the tax break scheduled for 2015 and 2016 will be consolidated. She also pointed out that public servants will receive a wage rise of 1%, which "will bring to an end" the wage freeze they suffered back in 2010. The public accounts will also allow them to recover part of the extraordinary payment that was denied them in 2012 and the full replacement rate for all essential services will also be reinstated.

In terms of State investment, the Vice-President of the Government pointed out that this will increase by 4.6%. Increased tax revenue, on the one hand, and lower debt service payments and unemployment benefit payouts, on the other, will now be used for investments.

"This Budget is a result of the recovery and it will help consolidate the recovery, based on the credibility our country has acquired in recent times, the confidence it is generating, not only overseas, but also at home, and the capacity for job creation", summarised Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría.

In this regard, the Vice-President of the Government pointed out that the Consumer Confidence Index published on Monday stands at 105.6 points, "the highest figure on record, with an increase on the previous month of more than four points". In her opinion, this figure is very important because it allows "this pattern of credibility and confidence" to be maintained.

Respect for legality and neutrality

When asked about the call for regional elections in Catalonia on Monday, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría asked the President of the Regional Government of Catalonia, Artur Mas, to respect legality and impartiality during the course of the whole election campaign in the event of dissolving Parliament. "What I would ask of the Regional Government of Catalonia is to respect legality and neutrality because the very least it can do is respect the will of the citizens of Catalonia and respect the law". "If the decree making the call respects the law, that is fine, if it does not respect the law, it will undoubtedly be challenged before the courts, as we have done on other occasions. Political intentions and political programmes are one thing, but the regional government and institutions, during the course of the whole process, must respect the law, and we will obviously be keeping a keen eye on that", she added.

The Vice-President of the Government recalled that in regional elections, "citizens vote for their representatives and they, in turn, vote for the President of the Regional Government of Catalonia, not for other questions that are not at stake in these elections nor which correspond thereto, given that they correspond to the people of Spain as a whole".

On another note, the Vice-President of the Government described the three calls for regional elections in Catalonia in less than five years as a "disaster". "Something is undoubtedly quite wrong, and what has been wrong over these last few years is the government headed up by Artur Mas. Firstly, because he has been incapable of offering a response to the political problems of the people of Catalonia, and many of these have had to be resolved by central government. The government does not finance Artur Mas, but it has financed the people of Catalonia and their public services in contrary to the wishes of Artur Mas and despite his best efforts", she stated.

In this regard, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría recalled that Catalonia is one of the few autonomous regions that has all its provincial capitals linked by high-speed rail and that the shuttle project at El Prat is presently under way, which will result in communications in this autonomous region being considerably improved. Moreover, she announced that Catalonia will receive a significant proportion of the almost 11-billion euro increase in financing for regional governments and local authorities contained in the 2016 Budget.

The Vice-President of the Government argued that the government treats all Spaniards equally and has their needs first and foremost. "We are also the government of Catalonia and the part that falls to us we see as being fair, necessary and that it is possible for us to put their needs first and foremost".