The Directorate General of European Funds will take on the management of Strategic Projects and Administrative Simplification, which will also have a specific unit.
The budget of the Regional Ministry of Economy, Finance and Innovation amounts to 88.1 million euros, 16.3% more than in 2024.
The Vice President and Minister of Economy, Finance and Innovation, Antoni Costa, presented the main budget lines of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Innovation to the Finance Committee of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands on Tuesday. In global terms, there will be a budget of 88.1 million euros, which represents an increase of 12.3 million (+16.3%) compared to the 2024 budget.
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The Government creates the Investment Accelerator Unit with the 2025 budget
Among the main increases is staff costs, which will rise from €24.5m to €27.6m, largely due to the implementation of the court ruling of more than €100m due to the salary freeze for civil servants in 2020 and 2021.
Costa announced that in 2025 the Investment Accelerator Unit, responsible for facilitating the implementation of large strategic projects ‘that the Balearic Islands need’, will be set up. This unit, initially endowed with €250,000, will be integrated into the new Directorate-General for Strategic Projects, European Funds and Administrative Simplification. ‘A Directorate-General for the present, but above all for the future’, Costa pointed out. In addition, an Administrative Simplification Unit will also be endowed with €200,000.
The strategic projects will be framed within the new Strategic Investment Framework for the Balearic Islands (MEIIB) 2030, which is being worked on with the economic and social agents and will be published before the end of the year.
Among the main budget lines, it should be noted that the budget devoted to public debt is down by 6.2%. The increase in interest and repayable loans is offset by the lower repayment figure, as a result of the reduction of more than 450 million euros of outstanding debt in the period 2023-2024.
Main projects
Within the Directorate General of the Treasury, Financial Policy and Assets, the main line of action will be the calls for aid to SMEs with the interest and the cost of the ISBA, SGR guarantee. In 2025, 10.5 million euros will be dedicated to this issue, 5 million of which will be allocated to the new line of innovation, digitalisation and sustainability.
In the case of the Directorate General for Economics and Statistics, the new feature for 2025 includes the Balearic Islands Opinion Surveys (EOIB), which between its budget and that of the Sustainable Tourism Tax will involve an investment of 1 million euros. Surveys will be conducted among the residents of the Balearic Islands to find out their opinions on the main current and structural issues. In addition, a study will be carried out to quantify a new limit for the de minimis regulation, which will help to increase the competitiveness of companies in the Balearic Islands compared to companies on the mainland.
The Tax Agency of the Balearic Islands, from 2025, will implement a new simplification measure for citizens, with which all taxes that are paid through receipts (the ITS and local taxes managed by the ATIB), can be paid with as many payments as you want and in the amount you want throughout the year.
With regard to the Directorate General for Digital Strategy, the two main projects to be launched in 2025 are the Digitalisation Plan, which will have a budget of 16 million euros – with measures such as a new procurement platform, improvements to the electronic headquarters or the implementation of collaborative tools for all public workers – and the Cybersecurity Plan, with 10 million euros.
The Directorate General for Innovation and Digital Transformation, whose budget has been increased from 4.3 million to 12.5 million, will begin the first phase of the Digital Twin of the Balearic Islands, which will help monitor and manage the state of the territory in different areas (environment, emergencies and tourism, among others). In addition, 4.8 million euros will be devoted to a plan to reduce the digital divide, training 22,465 citizens free of charge in basic digital skills.
Here, the 3.5 million euros of the Insularity Factor for the new 2,000 square metre Centre Bit in Eivissa should also be highlighted, in addition to the space currently under construction, as a result of the agreement between the Govern and the Consell de Eivissa signed at the end of 2023. 2.1 million euros will also be invested in improvements at the Parc Bit in Palma and the Centre Bit in Menorca.
And finally, IBDigital will have a budget of 14.5 million euros, an increase of 2.5 million. In this case, as the most important projects, the 2.4 million euros from the insularity factor will be used to continue with the project to sensor the beaches of the Balearic Islands, and pilot projects will be launched to sensor, for example, the flow of the water supply wells of Eivissa, the Serra de Tramuntana, or the salinisation of the sewage network of Formentera.