The Public Administrations of the A.C. of the Basque Country (Autonomous Administration and regionalized State Administration and Social Security) obtained a surplus of 1,653 million euros in terms of finance capacity, 3.1% of the GDP in 2004, according to Eustat data. Over the period from 2000 to 2003 this ratio fell from 5.7% in 2000 to 2.9% in 2003, before rising again by point two in 2004.

The comparison with Spain and the European Union continue to be sharp. The Public Administration of the A.C. of the Basque Country presented a surplus trend, with a slight upturn in 2004. The Public Administration in Spain reached the goal of zero deficit in 2004, which fell to a negative balance of -0.1% in 2004. The Administrations of the Euro-25 reduced last year’s deficit by point four, giving a deficit balance of -2.6% in 2004.

Graph 1: Evolution of the Capacity (+) or Need (-) for finance of the Public Administration (% GDP)

Source: Eustat

The surplus of the State Public Administration in the A.C of the Basque Country is divided between the 1,219 million euros corresponding to the regionalised State Administration and the 351 million of the regionalised Social Security in 2004. That is, the surplus in the Basque Country between both Administrations under State control came to 1,570 million euros, which represents 2.9% of the Basque GDP.

The Basque Administrations obtained a smaller surplus of 83 million euros, changing from a 147 million deficit in 2003. In this way, the surplus in 2004 came to 0.2% of the GDP, compared to -0.3% a year before. This surplus comes from the positive balances of Gipuzkoa (70 millions) and Álava (48 million), as the Basque Government (-25 million) and Bizkaia (-10 million) presented deficit balances.

Table1: Net Saving and Capacity (+) or Need (-) for finance of the Public Administration of the A.C. of the Basque Country (thousand euros) 2004

Source: Eustat

Over the period 2000-2004, the Public Administration in the A.C. of the Basque Country, as a whole, increased non-finance resources by 21.5% and non-finance expenditure grew by 31%. Therefore, their finance capacity fell from 2,404 million euros in 2000 to 1,653 million in 2004, although there was a 16.5% increase in this balance over the last analysed year.

Non-finance resources of the Basque Administration increased by 21% over five years, while non-finance expenditure increased by 29.5%. The finance capacity for 2000 therefore fell from 720 million euros in 2000 to 82 million euros in 2004.

Net Saving for the whole of the Public Administration in the A.C. of the Basque Country fell by 16.7% over this period, dropping from 3,792 million euros in 2000 to 3,160 in 2004. Net Saving by the Basque Public Administration fell by -23.1%, while net savings by State Public Administration fell by 10.4%.

Table 2: Participation of the Public Administrations in Final Demand. A.C. of the Basque Country (thousand euros). 2000-2004

Source: Eustat

The Internal Public Demand of the A.C. of the Basque Country represented 17.3% of the total Internal Demand.

Expenditure on final consumption by the Public Administration came to 20.1% of expenditure on final consumption in the A.C. of the Basque Country en 2004, point nine percent more than in 2000 and point four percent lower than in 2003.

Investment made by the Public Administration in the A.C. of the Basque Country has lost weight since the year 2000. The percentage of participation in Gross Capital Formation in the economy of the A.C. of the Basque Country remained practically stable over the period 2000-2002, later falling slightly in 2003 and somewhat more intensely in 2004.