Rodríguez: The Government has obtained more resources and has strengthened the public

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (EFE) resources and deal with unforeseen events.

Budget execution between 2019 and 2022 reached percentages above 90%, a figure that rose to around 95% in the last two years, in which record revenues have been recorded, Rodríguez highlighted during a press conference.

During this legislature, the budget items allocated to health, education and social rights have also increased, and social policies have been shielded until reaching an increase of 31%, he added.

The vice-president stressed that an “extraordinary” volume of State and EU income has been captured to guarantee essential services and develop social policies without the need to raise taxes or increase the debt.

Likewise, the resources assigned to the Canary Islands by the EU during this legislature have experienced a notable increase in response to the pandemic, in addition to the increase in the usual funds set in the financial framework and in agriculture and fisheries.

The Canarian Government has defended the Canary Islands Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF) both before the State and before the EU to safeguard the peculiarities of the islands, and the management with Europe has made it possible to achieve 7,500 million euros of community funds for the period 2021- 2027, Rodríguez has affirmed.

It has also been possible to put an end to the conflict with the central government regarding the road agreement, which allowed the release of some 900 million euros owed, plus the corresponding interest, of which 500 million were for works carried out and another 427 million were added with an addendum to the agreement in force.

During this legislature, the Government has faced numerous economic and social crises derived from the registered forest fires, the pandemic, the eruption of the La Palma volcano and the invasion of Ukraine, among other situations, and has articulated measures to alleviate their consequences.

Regarding the reform of the regional financing model, Rodríguez regretted that it continues to be a pending issue and has insisted that the Canary Islands will defend that the cost of insularity and income criteria be taken into account.

On the possibility that from 2024 the fiscal rule will be applied again, the Vice President of the Government has said that his department is working on this possibility and has stressed that neither the councils nor the city councils would support a tax reduction, so their taxation will not be modified.

Rodríguez has also highlighted that in this legislature a selective reduction of the IGIC has been applied, in the autonomous section of the IRPF or in the fuel tax for carriers, farmers and ranchers.

Likewise, the debt received at the beginning of the legislature has been reduced, it has been refinanced to lower the interest charged by entities and savings have been made in maintaining bank accounts.

Thanks to this, the Canary Islands is the community with the lowest debt per Gross Domestic Product and per inhabitant and its economy is solvent, said the Vice President of the Government. EFE