SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Nov. 3 (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Minister of Public Works, Transport and Housing of the Government of the Canary Islands, Sebastián Franquis, informed this Thursday the president of the Federation of Construction Employers of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Fepeco), Óscar Izquierdo, that the regional budgets for next year They include exemption from the collection of the fee that companies must usually pay for the management and inspection of works contracted by the regional administration.
As Minister Franquis explained to the representatives of the employers’ association, this is yet another measure by the Canarian Government to encourage the construction sector at a time when the effects of inflation are reducing the capacities of Canarian companies to deal with certain construction projects due to the high prices of materials.
“With this, we add one more measure aimed at mitigating the effects of inflation generated by the international crisis and the war in Ukraine, as we already did with the price review of contracts signed by public administrations with construction companies to adapt prices to the actual cost of construction materials”, explained Sebastián Franquis in a note sent by the Ministry.
Thus, it indicates that “this exemption from the works inspection rate comes to add, to complement these other measures in order to encourage the construction sector, one of the engines of the regional economy and job creation , to continue contracting works with public administrations to improve the living conditions of citizens”.
The exemption from the construction management and inspection fee is included in the text of the Community budget bill for 2023 and will be implemented on a temporary basis for the next financial year.
Its purpose is to complement other measures such as the Royal Decree Law on the exceptional review of construction contracts, a measure that is limited and, therefore, does not absorb all the inflation of construction materials.
MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF INFLATION
From the Ministry they point out that the current economic context of sudden and intense rise in inflation and slowdown in the rate of growth is having a very negative effect, which advises the assumption by public administrations of specific measures to mitigate the effects of inflation and encourage economic activity in the region, including those of a tax nature, but always to the extent that it does not imply a reduction in the provision of public services.
For this reason, the Ministry promotes this temporary incentive to discount or exempt that rate in 2023, since it reaches more reasons of economic or social policy, than fiscal.
In this way, it is considered that, with this tax benefit for the contractors of the works of the Autonomous Community, one more measure would be implemented, as is already done with the exceptional review of prices, so that there are no cases of abandonment of open tenders , and the effect of inflation in the works can be cushioned.
After the meeting with the councilor Franquis, the president of Fepeco, Óscar Izquierdo, recognized the work that the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Housing is doing to help and encourage the construction sector.
“We have shown Minister Sebastián Franquis our gratitude and support for all the work that his Ministry is doing to support our sector, to make the consequences of inflation in the world of works more bearable, something that is affecting us a lot “, Izquierdo pointed out, and measures such as the exemption from fees “show that the Ministry takes us into account and that it supports a sector that is at the forefront of creating wealth and employment in the Autonomous Community.”
