Publication of public deficit data

When excluding local authorities, Spanish public administration services post 9% deficit reduction in November

News - 2015.1.27

On its website, the Ministry of the Treasury and Public Administration Services published on Tuesday the budget performance data in public accounting terms on the Central Government, the regional governments and the Social Security system corresponding to the month of November.

In the period January-November, the consolidated deficit for the three sub-sectors stood at 49.13 billion euros, 9% lower than in the same period last year. This deficit equates to 4.62% of GDP, 0.53 percentage points below that recorded in November 2013.

These figures exclude financial aid accounted to the end of November, which is not included when calculating compliance with the stability target and amounted to 767 million euros, or 0.07% of GDP.

Central Government

With only one month to go before the end of the year, the Central Government posted a deficit of 33.55 billion euros - a reduction of 13% on the same period last year. The Central Government deficit equates to 3.15% of GDP, 0.52 percentage points below that recorded in November 2014 when it stood at 3.67% of GDP.

This significant deficit reduction is due to both improved figures from the State, the negative balance of which fell by 0.39 points of GDP on the figure posted in the same period last year, and the surplus from central government agencies, which stood at 0.23% of GDP.

Including financial aid, which amounted to 767 million euros in the period January to November - compared with 4.82 billion euros in the same period of 2013, the Central Government lowered its deficit by 20.8%.

Regional governments

The sub-sector of regional governments posted a deficit of 14.63 billion euros to the end of November, which equates to 1.37% of GDP, remaining practically stable on the previous month.

This result stems from non-financial resources increasing by 0.1% year-on-year and an increase in costs of 1.8%. The interest on debt accrued in November fell by 10.4% due to a lower interest rate applicable to loans from the FLA [regional liquidity fund] from 1 October. In accumulated terms, interest rose by 3.2% to November.

Social Security Funds

To November, the Social Security sub-sector posted a deficit of 946 million euros, representing 0.09% of GDP. This result is mainly due to the surplus from the State Public Employment Service, which rose by 0.49% of GDP, tripling the surplus of 0.15% of GDP posted in November 2013. In turn, the Social Security system posted a deficit of 0.57% of GDP, while the Wage Guarantee Fund (Spanish acronym: FOGASA) posted a deficit of 0.01% of GDP to November.