Montero discards new tax increases

Montero discards new tax increases

The Minister of Finance stresses that Brussels is "quite satisfied" with the draft Budgets

  The Finance Minister, María Jesús Montero, has ruled out on Monday that the Government will approve four more tax increases to extend the demands of Brussels and has confirmed that the European authorities are "quite satisfied" with the draft General State Budgets ( PGE) for 2019.

In an informative breakfast in Seville, Montero has denied that he intends to increase the tax on the bank, the dismantling of the maximum bases of contribution to the Social Security, the rise of the tax on the insurance premiums and the elimination of deductions from the Tax of Companies.

  "The European authorities are quite satisfied with the plan we have presented, they have requested information to consolidate this data and I am convinced that they will certify that there is a structural adjustment (of the deficit) of 0.4%, which is what had been agreed with them, "he said.

On the other hand, on the Minimum Wage Interprofessional (SMI), has denied that its rise to 22% has been a requirement of no political training. On the contrary, he explained that it has been "a quite spontaneous agreement" between Unidos Podemos and the Government to carry out the accounts for the next financial year, which was included in the PSOE's electoral program.

He also recalled that, in addition, it had been addressed in the collective bargaining debate between the trade unions, CC OO and UGT, and the Government in the previous period. In fact, he added that an increase of the SMI was expected in a "progressive manner" in the coming years until reaching 1,000 euros.

Competitiveness and wages

In any case, the Minister of Finance has said that the rise of the SMI does not cause loss of employment or decrease in competitiveness, while noting that "Spain is the developed country's environment that has the lowest SMI of the set of the Eurozone ». "You can not be permanently blackmailing citizens about the working conditions that a job provides to be satisfied that at least they have it, even if it does not allow them to leave poor," he warned.

In this regard, he assured that "competitiveness based on wage devaluation is a mistake" that prevents Spain from competing with countries such as Asia and Africa, and has insisted that the country's productive economy must be supported in the value added and not in the devaluation of workers' wages.