Meanwhile he National state has a primary deficit of 2.4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the provinces present a positive balance, although with slight deterioration. The data comes from the National Directorate of Provincial Affairs which published the fiscal data for the first quarter of 2023.
Despite the decline in the fiscal situation of the provinces, The balance continues to be solid when compared with that of the State. In the first three months of 2023, The provinces recorded a primary surplus of almost $380 million ($379) and a fiscal surplus of $253,000 million.
According to a report by Facimex Valores, which addresses the financial situation of the provinces and the State, the numbers show a “deterioration in real terms compared to the first quarter” last year. This is because the first gasot rose 10% in real terms year-on-year above income and registered the largest increase since the third quarter of 2017.
This dynamic would be explained by capital spending, an item that showed the highest real growth in recent years.
The broker’s report, cited by the Bloomberg agency, maintains that with this result in the last four quarters accumulated to the first quarter of 2023, the provinces registered a primary surplus of 0.6% of GDP and 3.6% of income and a fiscal surplus of 0.3% of GDP and 1.5% of income.
What is the reason for the slight deterioration?
These figures mark a slight deterioration compared to 2022. In that year, the primary surplus reached 0.7% of GDP and 4.0% of income and the fiscal surplus reached 0.3% of GDP and 1.9% of the incomes.
Likewise, according to the aforementioned news agency, The provinces showed that the provinces have a very low percentage of leverage and a robust liquidity position.
This is because the stock of provincial public debt reached 5.2% of GDP and when discounting the total deposits of the provinces, the net debt stood at 2.9% of GDP (18%). Likewise, total deposits reached 43% of the debt stock and 13% of income.
Likewise, experts maintain that Since 2018, the provinces have managed to generate surpluses thanks to the inflationary jump which was not followed in equal proportion by salary expenditure.
Source: Ambito
