Pedro Sánchez affirms that the approval of the Budget in the Lower House guarantees political stability

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

After the General State Budget Bill for 2023 received a favourable vote from a majority of ministers, the head of the Executive stated that this result "guarantees the necessary political stability for our country when it comes to facing its great challenges with guarantees".

The public accounts - said Pedro Sánchez - protect the social majority, especially the most vulnerable, and will allow European funds to be channelled again to modernise the economy, as well as consolidate recovery, growth, job creation and reindustrialisation.

The president expressed his satisfaction at the triumph of "useful politics, which are more necessary than ever", and claimed that "in such a difficult context", "the victory of understanding between the disparate, between the distant" had prevailed. "It is not a victory over anyone, but over the challenges facing Spanish society", he remarked.

Proceedings in the Upper House of Parliament

Pedro Sánchez, together with the Minister for Treasury and Public Function, María Jesús Montero, and the Minister for the Presidency, Parliamentary Relations and Democratic Memory, Félix Bolaños, after the approval of the public accounts | Pool Moncloa / Fernando Calvo

The General State Budget Bill for 2023 will now continue its parliamentary processing in the Upper House of Parliament for a maximum of one month. If the Upper House amends the text or vetoes it, it will return to the Plenary of the Lower House to decide whether to maintain or revoke the changes or lift the veto; if the Upper House of Parliament makes no changes, the budget will receive its final approval.

The 2023 Budget aims to strengthen the welfare state, boost economic efficiency and territorial cohesion, and mitigate the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It includes record social spending and the largest investments in history in scholarships, health, dependency and pensions. Another of its axes is the promotion of R&D policies to transform the production model, as the President of the Government of Spain has also stressed.

Non official translation