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Current expenditure of the Basque Administrations -formed by the Basque Government, the Provincial Councils and the Municipal Administrations, alongside their corresponding Autonomous Organisations and supramunicipal and inframunicipal bodies- registered a 10.5% rise in 2007, according to EUSTAT data. Current expenditure came to 12,224.0 million euros, while current income rose to 15,974.9 million, with an annual rate of increase of 12.0%, in relation to 2006.

This evolution meant that the balance of current operations (current income minus current expenditure) surpassed the position of the previous year by 17.2%, coming to 3,750.9 million euros.

Tax revenue, which accounted for 89.8% of total current income, increased by 9.5%. Direct taxes experienced the most growth: more specifically, revenue coming from Company Taxes grew by 20,9% and that derived from Income Tax by 16.1%. Municipal taxes showed more modest growth of 7%. Revenue from VAT showed the least growth, 3.3%.

Among the chapters dealing with current expenditure, the smallest growth continued to be that of Personnel Costs, with 7.8%; the other chapters of expenditure grew by over 10%. In consequence, current expenditure reached a 10.5% increase, which, compared with the greater growth of current income (12.0%), generated a growth in the balance of current operations in 2007 of 17.2%.

As regards the capital operations (capital Investments and transfers), income decreased by 14.2% while expenditure increased by 11.6%.

This balance of capital operations, added to the aforementioned current operations balance, gave a resultant non-financial budgetary balance of 1,581.8 million euros, 248 million more than in 2006.

Outstanding debt of the Basque Administrations on 31 December 2007 came to 3,110.1 million euros, 7.48% less than in 2006. Over the latest tax year 368.4 million of pending debt was repaid and new liabilities to the tune of 117.1 million euros were contracted, meaning that the final outstanding debt was reduced by 25.3 million euros in relation to 2006.

As regards GDP, this amount of financial debt of the Basque Administrations also continued to decrease, going from 5.4% reached in 2006 to 4.7% in 2007.

The number of personnel employed by the Basque Administrations in 2007 was 106,160 people, 2.3% higher than in 2006. Of the total, 69.3% belonged to the public sector of the General Administration of the Autonomous Community, 9.2% to the public sector of the Provincial Councils and the remaining 21.5% to the public sector of the Local Administrations. As for the relation to employment, 68.6% enjoyed the status of permanent employment.

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