Without consensus, Kicillof did not obtain the votes to sanction the 2025 Budget and blamed the opposition

The governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, did not achieve consensus this Friday to approve the 2025 Budgetthe tax law and a debt project, and the session in the Buenos Aires Legislature fell. At the end of the day he issued a statement where He blamed the opposition.

“To the very serious situation to which President Milei subjected us during this year, is now added a blow from the opposition by not approving the budget package“said the government of the province of Buenos Aires in a statement.

“The Budget project for 2025 guaranteed compliance with the obligations and priorities of the provincial governmentdespite the financial stranglehold and the debts that the national government maintains with the Province,” stated the provincial Executive.

Then denied opposition accusations and assured that he met all the stipulated times. “In the presentations made, comments or criticism were never received from the opposition,” they stated.

A long day of negotiations

After an extensive day of negotiations and after two intermission quarters, The president did not get the necessary votes from the opposition to give the green light to the projects promoted by the ruling party. Neither the governor nor his vice president, Verónica Magario, witnessed the debate.

This Friday morning it seemed that Axel Kicillof would manage to gather the votes for the three laws. It was planned that both Houses would meet simultaneously. and thus achieve the approval of these regulations, but the opposition showed its doubts from early on.

This was first evident in Deputies. After the national anthem was played, the official representative Margarita Recalde requested an intermission until 5:00 p.m. After that period, a deputy from La Cámpora, Facundo Tignanelli, requested another intermission without a fixed time. The opposition rejected it and ended up approving the motion of the UCR-Cambio Federal, Diego Garciarenawhich proposed that the interval last only one hour. “What has not been resolved until now will not be resolved. We have to be realistic,” asked the radical.

In parallel, in the Senate There was also an attempt to hold a session after 4 p.m. But since the necessary consensus was not achieved, the senator from the Frente Renovador, Sofia Vanellirequested an extension, without setting a time.

Negotiations continued, including a proposed meeting with the Buenos Aires Minister of Economy, Pablo López, but they did not come to fruition. Finally, the sessions in both Houses fell. We will have to wait until February to discuss the budget again.

The opposition’s explanations

The opposition came out to explain the reasons for their rejection of the projects promoted by the Buenos Aires ruling party. One of the main opposition blocks of the Senate, UCR + Federal Exchange, He justified it in the following way: “We need this budget to lower taxes, not increase expenses or be used in a discretionary manner.”

According to this block, “the government (Buenos Aires) He did not accept suggestions or contributions that could enrich the proposal. Nor was the area of ​​work exchange that is customary and that is healthy for democratic life generated.

Meanwhile, the legislator from La Libertad Avanza, Agustín Romocelebrated the fall of the budget. “Together with the UCR, the PRO and the CCARI we managed to prevent Kicillof from destroying the people of Buenos Aires with taxes. Freedom Advances,” he stated.

What is contemplated in the rejected 2025 Budget

The law of laws for 2025 contemplates expenses for more than 34 billion pesosforesees a primary deficit of 628,680 million pesos and a financial deficit of 1,486,271 million.

The 2025 Budget contemplates a investment of 1.4 billion pesos for social inclusion; 1.2 billion in health; 1.2 billion in education; 1.1 billion pesos in security. In parallel, the investment in infrastructure will be 7.8% of total spending; 5 billion will be allocated for the Program to Strengthen Industries and SMEs and more than 3.7 billion pesos will be allocated to the development of cooperative productive activities.

Next year, the same tax pressure reached during 2024 will be maintained. Therefore, in the draft Tax Law it was established that the Real Estate tax, both Urban and Rural, will have increase caps of 28% annually.

At the same time, for almost 90% of taxpayers, the increase in the patent will be only 13.8%, when the Survey of Market Expectations (REM) expects an inflation of 35% by 2025. In addition, those who are up to date will receive a 15% reduction in your final payment.

At the same time, the Buenos Aires Government decided not to make changes to the rates of the Gross Income tax, a measure that seeks to sustain tax relief on the productive sectors.

Meanwhile, taxes such as the Stamp Tax and the Free Transfer of Assets will maintain the same rates as the current year, without additional adjustments.