Brussels, 31/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - The Spanish public deficit in nominal terms has risen to 5.16% of GDP, which is nearly a percentage point higher than the target of 4.2% laid down at European level, the Spanish national statistical institute announced on Thursday 31 March.
Whilst the performance of the central state and the communes was better than anticipated, the shortfall is mainly due to the excessive expenditure of the autonomous communities (average deficit of -1.66% of GDP compared to a target of -0.7%) and social security (-1.26% rather than -0.6%). “More than half of the discrepancy of the autonomous communities was caused by two communities, Catalonia and Valencia”, said the minister for the public treasury, Cristobal Montoro, reports the daily newspaper El País.
In its winter economic forecasts (see EUROPE 11483), the Commission predicted a national deficit of 4.5% of GDP in 2015 and a 3.5% in 2016, figures which were more pessimistic than those under consideration when it presented its opinion on the 2016 Spanish draft budget in October 2015 (see EUROPE 11408). The deficit targets agreed at European level for Spain were set at 4.2% of GDP for 2015 and 2.8% for 2016.
Despite a return to growth tantalisingly close to 3% of GDP, this poor budgetary result is a thorn in Spain's side, with the principal political parties of the country struggling to form a stable government since the elections of December 2015. When invited to react, the European Commission said that it was waiting for the certified figures of the statistical office of the EU (Eurostat) at the end of April, on the basis of which it will make its country-specific socio-economic policy recommendations in May. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)