Andorra's Government Investment Plummets from 27% to 12% of Budget
Opposition councillor Cerni Escalé criticizes sharp drop in investment spending to €81M from €169M in 2012, blaming rigid operating expenses like.
Key Points
- Investment spending dropped from €169M (27%) in 2012 to €81M (12%) in current €806M budget.
- Rise in operating expenses (salaries, utilities, maintenance) crowds out capital projects and debt repayment.
- Escalé calls operating costs 'rigid'; cuts hard without dismissing staff.
- Warns of new debt for salaries without growth, making investment impossible.
Government investment spending has fallen sharply from 27% of the total budget in 2012 to just 12% in the current budget, according to Cerni Escalé, general councillor for the opposition party Concòrdia.
In 2012, investment accounted for €169 million out of a €647 million budget. The current €806 million budget allocates only €81 million to investment, leaving a smaller share for both capital projects and debt repayment.
Escalé attributes the shift to a significant rise in operating expenses, which cover daily public administration costs such as staff salaries, utilities, building maintenance, contracted services, and routine outlays. He described these as the "most rigid" budget items, noting that if revenues drop next year, the government cannot easily cut civil servant pay or dismiss staff.
Instead, Escalé warned, the government is banking on continued economic growth to sustain its expanded personnel structure. Without it, he said, paying salaries would require taking on new public debt, while investment would become nearly impossible.
The critique highlights growing pressures on Andorra's public finances amid higher operational demands.
Original Sources
This article was aggregated from the following Catalan-language sources: