CABA doubles the budget per inhabitant of the Province of Buenos Aires

At first glance it would seem that the PBA has almost triple the resources available to the City of Buenos Aires. However, and according to INDEC, while in CABA we have 3,083,770 inhabitants, in the PBA there are 18,039,509 inhabitants; that is, a population almost 6 times greater.

And this means? It means that, compared to the Province, the City of Buenos Aires has a budget that is practically double the resources per inhabitant.

Indeed. the City has resources equivalent to almost $700,000 per inhabitant per year, while for the Province of Buenos Aires, said amount is reduced to $380,000; that is, 54% of money per inhabitant.

But not only the above. To the difference pointed out, we must add that the CABA has practically all of its infrastructure problems (from asphalt to gas networks, drinking water, sewers and electricity) resolved by the National State, in such a way that in addition to having more resources , the City of Buenos Aires also has less need for investment in infrastructure. The most important investment that would correspond to it in terms of infrastructure would be the expansion of the subway network, but there have been no works underway for several years.

And what about the districts bordering the city of Buenos Aires?

avellanedawhich is only one bridge away, has an estimated population of 400,000 and has $53,000 million budget for 2023. This yields a sum of $132,500 per inhabitant; that is to say, hardly a fifth of the resources that the City of Buenos Aires has.

In other words, to maintain parity, Avellaneda would have to have a budget of almost $280,000 million. And the budget of the Province of Buenos Aires should reach $12.6 billion annually.

For these reasons, it is very difficult to compare the efforts of the City of Buenos Aires with the Province of Buenos Aires and/or with any of the municipalities that comprise it. It is that to the difference in needs, we must also add the almost scandalous disparity of resources.

Let’s say then that the pitch is too steep; and that said inclination is what allows the City Government levels of superfluous expenses that would be impossible or unthinkable in any other jurisdiction.

Obviously, this huge difference can only put into question the alleged efficiency in the administration of the CABA. Or on the other side of the mirror, the scope of the alleged inefficiencies of the other local administrations.

What will be the advertising spend in 2023?

In this regard, it is paradoxical advertising spending. While in the 2023 budget 9,416 million pesos are foreseen for the City for just over 3 million inhabitants, the budget of the Ministry of Public Communication of the Province of Buenos Aires reaches $5,349 million for its 18 million inhabitants. This amounts to approximately $3,053/inhabitant in CABA against $296/inhabitant in PBA. More than 10 times! The difference is inescapable.

Speaking clear. Is the Government of CABA as efficient as we are led to believe, or does it simply have “excess” resources that it can allocate, for example, to advertising “patterns”? And it is also worth asking: how would the Province of Buenos Aires be if the governor had resources similar to those of the City and also already had all the infrastructure problems resolved? And a city like Avellaneda? Or Lomas de Zamora? Or Merlo?

Obviously, the exposed numbers are not intended to be absolute or definitive because it is not lost on us that there may be other transfers from the National State, but they do point out an undeniable disparity that is often not taken into consideration when it comes to evaluating not only management, but also also the ability to manage the Head of Government and the Governors and Mayors, not only of the Province of Buenos Aires in particular, but also of the entire country.