Regional governments doubled their deficits in the first quarter. Extremadura, Aragón and Castille-La Mancha had the biggest budget setbacks. While Extremadura met its 2013 deficit goal by a great deal, Aragón and Castille-La Mancha were way behind then and continue to struggle.
Both regions went over their 1.3% deficit goal by 2% last year, and in 2014 they are heading down the same path. It does nobody any good to keep postponing bills to the next quarter. Writing loopholes in the budget only shows how foolish the writers are, because this information is public. Also, we can see that accounts will remain unbalanced until stiff reforms are completed. At this point, we need politicians to set a good example by doing more than talking.
