Super tense. That was the tone at the Consejo de Política Fiscal y Financiera, which economic vice-president Elena Salgado presided over today as people accepted the novelty of having 13 of the 17 regional advisors as members of the Partido Popular after the March 22 elections. Facing this division of powers and without forgetting that the regional governments' financial obligations are the main focus of international organizations and ratings agencies, each party opened up some of the issues that will undoubtedly cause political skirmishes.
As part of Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba's election strategy, the current government wants to put maximum pressure on the regional governments led by the PP. The PSOE party candidate's intentions from here until the elections are to force the new regional governments to apply spending cutbacks and make unpopular political decisions, which are, according to opinion polls, wearing out Mariano Rajoy's capabilities. For him, there is nothing better than to turn off the cash flow.
Yesterday, the Minister of the Economy and Labor published data on LA LIQUIDACION NEGATIVA APLAZADA DE 2009. That is to say, what the regional governments owe to the federal government. Last year, data relative to 2008 were publicized on August 9. In total, the regional government bill rose to 18.73 billion euros, with Andalusia, Catalonia and Valencia at the top of the list. Further, the regional governments, without including Basque and Navarra, owe the federal government another 5 billion euros from 2008, which raises the total bill to 23.7 billion.
