The Government admits it will not have budgets in January due to early elections

The Economy department confirms that the departments are already working on the draft, but without discussions with parliamentary partners. The early elections called by Pedro Sánchez leave the regional funding and the cancellation of the FLA up in the air.

The Catalan Executive assumes that the new budgets for the Generalitat will not be ready by 1 January. The Economy department has ordered the departments to prepare the draft, but the timeline has become complicated with the early elections announced for 29 November, according to elperiodico.com.

The Economy councillor, Alícia Romero, acknowledged last week that the drafting is progressing, although approval depends on parliamentary partners. "We have ordered the preparation of new budgets and the departments are working. It is true that we need the partners to approve them and right now there are no discussions, which is normal and logical," she stated in an interview on La 2Cat.

Sources from Romero's department admit to "difficulties" due to the current situation, although they keep the door open for a last-minute acceleration. "The budgets for 2026 provide stability to the legislature and we are focused on executing them," they add.

The early elections also leave the vote on the new regional funding model in the Congress of Deputies uncertain, a system that was supposed to inject nearly €4.7 billion annually into Catalonia's accounts, close to 10% of the total. The PSC had agreed on this with ERC, but Junts did not support it.

Alongside funding, the cancellation of part of the debt from the Autonomous Liquidity Fund (FLA) remains pending, which leaves Catalonia with €17.104 billion owed to the State. Councillor Romero was already counting on saving €250 million in interest, a figure that she will now have to provisionally include in the new accounts.

The public finance law historically set 10 October as the deadline to present the project in the Parliament, although the rule was modified and now requires it to be done "well in advance." The current Government already struggled to approve the existing accounts, the first of Salvador Illa's legislature, which were passed in the second half of the year after withdrawing an initial project and negotiating with ERC and the Comuns.

The delay directly affects public services and the planned investments for next year in Catalonia. Without approved budgets, the Generalitat will have to extend the current accounts, which limits spending capacity and puts essential areas like health, education, and housing on hold.

The Economy department does not give up on reaching an agreement in the coming weeks, but acknowledges that the political scenario is not helpful. The electoral calendar dictates the timing, and any progress will depend on the resumption of discussions with parliamentary groups.