The Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa will reduce in 85 million euros your budget for fiscal year 2020, which amounted to 915 million, as a result of the fall in revenue that will generate the health, social and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Markel Olano, the General Deputy of Gipuzkoa, made this announcement during a telematic press conference that he offered this Friday together with José Ignacio Asensio, Regional Deputy for the Environment and Hydraulic Works, to give an account of the adaptation process from the Provincial Council to the new scenario generated.

During his speech, Olano explained that the provincial institution expects to collect between 20% and 25% less than what was budgeted for this year, although it has clarified that, “thanks to the management of recent years, the Provincial Council has a healthy financial situation “ that will allow to “cover” part of the amount that will cease to be collected “assuming the debt ceiling allowed by law”, as well as “resorting to remnants”, up to a total of 115 million euros.

“For the rest, about 85 million, we will postpone investments and contain spending, “said Olano, who has advanced that sectors such as social policies and economic promotion will be left out of this “adjustment”, since the provincial institution considers them “priority”.

For his part, Asensio has specified that, on this year’s budget, it is expected a decrease of about 200 million in the income chapter, which will be covered with 70 million of own resources from remnants, and the use of the debt “to the maximum” allowed by law, which means 45 million more.

“Still and everything we are going to have a deficit of 85 million “, Asensio has warned, who has advanced that to cover it it will be necessary to make “an adjustment” through “a reduction in uninitiated investments that can be re-reported for the next few years”, which will mean about 40 million, together with a decrease in current expenditure of around 25 million more, and some “planned non-executions” of others 20 million.

At this point Markel Olano has announced that the main investments to be deferred will be those related to some initiatives of the strategy Building the Future, What Natural climate, the center on aging Adinberri, the project Mobile and the reform of center Koldo Mitxelena that “will undergo a re-reporting”, as well as the field of road infrastructures, including the road Urretxu-Azkioitia and Polígono 27.

Olano has highlighted, in this context, the “healthy” situation of the coffers of the provincial entity that, although it has “capacity” to resort to indebtedness to a greater extent, it cannot do so “from a legal point of view”, for which he has called for this criterion to be modified.

The deputy general has highlighted the “exercise of responsibility” that supposes the budgetary adjustment made by the Provincial Council that, as he has said, will allow “set up” to the institution for the new economic situation and continue to respond “with solvency to the needs of Gipuzkoan society”.

“At this time,” he added, the socio-sanitary crisis is not yet resolved and society is still in the phase of adaptation to the new scenario. What is clear is that the stoppage of activity will bring with it an economic crisis so, as a public institution, we need to adapt public policies “ at this new juncture, he warned.

Olano recalled that Gipuzkoa is facing “a very tough situation”, with 229 people deceased by COVID-19 in the territory, to whose families he has transferred his “closeness and support”, as well as to those who are experiencing the disease and to the health personnel and those of the residences.

From this situation, José Ignacio Asensio has also prioritized the need to carry out a Economic recovery “putting the accent on helping people, to the self-employed and the companies that are being more affected by the crisis, without forgetting any sector “.