Deficit overseer stands up for Spanish regions slammed by Montoro

Article published by Diari Ara, 7th April 2016

The Airef calls for “not demonizing the regions” and evaluating whether they have insufficient revenues

DANI SÁNCHEZ UGART Madrid UPDATED 07/04/2016 07:37

Photo: Cristóbal Montoro / ANDREA COMAS / REUTERS

Cristóbal Montoro, the Spanish Finance Minister, has been slapped on the wrist by the Spanish body that oversees compliance with the deficit. After the PP minister last week blamed Spain’s autonomous communities for falling short of their deficit target, on Wednesday José Luis Escrivá —the President of Airef— said that you should not “demonize the regions”, and asked that “their spending and income structure” be reviewed before condemning them.

The agency also criticized the central government´s urge to assess compliance with stability targets and point fingers at the least compliant regions. “Compliance with targets does not imply greater diligence or efficiency. It appears to me to be an over-simplification. There´s no need to make heroes out of those who comply and demons out of those who don´t”, said Cristina Herrero, Director of Budgetary Analysis for Airef.

Airef is asking for a review of financing models using the criteria of “sufficiency”, and “to clarify the fiscal regime applicable to the regions”.

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