Calviño: "We could consider revising the growth forecast for this year upwards"

Ensures that decisions on fiscal matters cannot "make holes" in public accounts and criticizes the "balance policy" between Autonomous Communities

MADRID, 29 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The First Vice President of the Government and Minister for Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, assured this Thursday that, with the information available to date, an upward revision of the economic growth forecast for this year could be considered (4.3 %).

"This week the OECD has revised upwards the growth forecast (for Spain) to 4.4%. We could even consider, based on the information we have, revising upwards what we are going to grow this year. Now, , we have a very prudent approach in the macroeconomic framework and precisely that prudence has allowed us to more than meet all the deficit and debt reduction objectives of recent years," Calviño said in statements to Antena 3 collected by Europa Press.

The vice-president highlighted that all organizations forecast growth equal to or greater than 4% this year and growth of around 2% in 2023. "This means that the Spanish economy continues to grow strongly (...) in a such a difficult international context and a very intense slowdown. A growth of around 2% next year is significantly higher growth than that of neighboring countries and will allow us to continue meeting our fiscal objectives", he emphasized.

Calviño has pointed out that this summer's tourist campaign "has been very strong" and that tax revenues and job creation "continue to go well", which shows that the Spanish economy is "holding up well" even in the complex international context .

As to whether the Government is planning to lower taxes selectively, the vice president has affirmed that the decisions to lower or raise taxes are "good or bad" depending on whether they are made with fiscal responsibility; that they contribute, at the present time, to containing inflation, and that they are fair, that is, that they guarantee progressivity.

"We have lowered taxes in general, we have made selective reductions and we will continue along the same lines as long as we comply with these three principles (...) This whole debate seems to me to be a false debate. It is not about raising or lowering taxes. It is about whether a decision is fair and whether it is responsible from a fiscal point of view so as not to make a hole in the public accounts and this is very important for Spain to maintain the respect and trust of international markets", he said. the vice president.

Calviño has indicated that the Government wants to focus its fiscal policy on the lowest incomes and on SMEs, as they are the most affected by the evolution of inflation.

In this sense, he has recognized that some of the fiscal measures adopted, such as the VAT reduction on gas and electricity, have been universal, "but many others", he specified, have been aimed at the most vulnerable families, such as the freezing of the price of the butane cylinder, the reinforcement of the thermal and electrical social bonus and the bonus of public transport, which "above all benefits the middle classes, workers and students", he pointed out.

"The tax system has to be solid so that we can meet the needs of the public sector, it has to be above all fair and progressive and that is the approach that we are going to have in the Budget bill for 2023", he explained. .

Thus, although the fiscal debate "is very heated", the message that Calviño wanted to send is that of a "responsible" government, which will make the decisions that are convenient for the Spanish economy and thinking of strengthening the public sector (health, education, pensions).

"And not only that, taxes finance defense, security, and at a time when we have to support Ukraine and continue to strengthen Europe's role in the world, this is not the time to dismantle the welfare state," has underlined.

Calviño has warned of the "disastrous" effects that the massive tax cuts that the country has launched have had in the United Kingdom, showing "the path that must not be followed", and has criticized that the PP's tax proposals are aimed at to benefit the highest incomes. At this point, he has pointed out that the IRPF deflation requested by the 'popular' would benefit the highest salaries to a greater extent, so its impact would be "regressive".

Likewise, Calviño has been very critical of the announcements of some autonomous communities that they will lower taxes in the framework of a kind of "destructive race to the bottom to see who gives more".

"A country model that consists of putting some populations in front of others or embarking on a destructive race to the bottom saying who gives more, that kind of policy of balances, does not seem to me to be a vision of a cohesive country and is totally against the position we have in the international arena in the fight against tax havens and in favor of tax harmonization", he underlined.