The Governing Council has just approved the Preliminary Draft Law of the General Budgets of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands for the year 2024 in which the limit of non-financial expenditure is 11,301 million euros, 1,120 million more than the previous year, equivalent to an increase of 11%.
The budget for the Canarian Health Service grows by 576 million euros over the initial budget for 2023, which represents an increase of 15%.
For its part, the increase in Education stands at 4.42% with 89 million euros over the initial budget for 2023; while the increase in Social Welfare will be 33 million euros, 4.93% compared to the initial budget for 2023. That is, almost two-thirds of the budget increase is allocated to these three areas of essential services.
The reduction of the IGIG will have to wait
The Minister of Finance, Matilde Asián, has insisted that this budget project is rigorous and complies with the stability rules provided for in the Organic Law on Budgetary Stability and Financial Sustainability, which is expected to resume in 2024 when the safeguard clause applied in the last four years is deactivated.
Therefore, the budget will adjust the public deficit to the level established in general for the Autonomous Communities by the central government, and apply a reference rate of 3% for the limit of growth of computable expenditure in order to comply with the spending rule, in accordance with the recommendation of the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF).
As Asián explained, once the uncertainties are cleared up and the resources available for 2024 and the rules applicable to budget management are known exactly, the budget will be reinforced in certain budget areas to strengthen the government's key policies and will be complemented by a policy of substantial tax reductions to help families and businesses.
It will be then when a progressive reduction of the IGIC can also be undertaken, which, for now, only suffers technical adjustments with type reductions for the transport of passengers on the same island, medical equipment and instruments to treat people with disabilities, diapers for babies and the elderly, provision of veterinary services, etc.
These budgets also contemplate a reduction for the use of diesel as fuel for boilers and ovens affected by the development of industrial activities in the Canary Islands.
Tax increases
On the contrary, beverages with added sugars or sweeteners increase the rate due to health protection reasons. The same occurs with the Tax on Tobacco Products, with increases and adjustment of rates and regulation of new consumption modalities such as heated tobacco, electronic cigarettes or vapes.
With regard to non-financial income, the Ministry of Finance is very cautious and estimates, in the absence of State forecasts, an increase of 2.9% in the payments on account of the Autonomous Financing System. The forecast for the increase in the Canary Islands Financing Block is 6.8% over the close of this year, while the forecast for growth in transferred taxes and fees amounts to 8.8%.
The 2024 budget includes the extraordinary and temporary return of the differential of the final price of petroleum-derived fuels for the Green Islands of 9.5 million euros, which aims to compensate for the price difference borne by the residents of those islands.
Regarding La Palma, and taking into account the special circumstances experienced on the island, an additional provision is maintained that provides for 100 million euros, to which is added the creation of a specific budgetary fund of 50 million euros.
