MADRID (Reuters) – The Spanish government has decided not to send an already delayed budget bill for 2024 to parliament and will focus instead on next year’s spending plan as it keeps rolling over the 2023 budget, several Spanish media reported on Wednesday.
Without citing any sources, El Pais newspaper and La Sexta TV channel said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who leads a minority leftist government, made the decision after the Catalonia region called an early election that may throw into disarray his support in parliament.
Sanchez is dependent on unstable backing from Catalan pro-independence and other regional parties.
Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero earlier told Cadena Ser Radio the Catalan election “could change the political chessboard” and “the sensible thing, being realistic, is to make use of all the technical work and political pre-agreements as a starting point for the 2025 (budget) proposal”.
She stopped short, however, of saying there would be no new budget for 2024.
Government officials were not immediately available for comment.
The 2024 budget process was delayed last year as it took Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez four months to secure another term in office after an inconclusive general election in July.
The government has targeted reducing the budget deficit to 3% from 2023’s 3.8%. The central bank projected on Tuesday it would drop to 3.5% this year, noting that for Spain to meet the EU recommendation that nominal growth in expenditure does not exceed 2.6%, additional measures may be necessary.
(Reporting by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Toby Chopra)
