Neuquén's 2026 Budget: surplus, royalties as an anchor and falling debt

Neuquén approved its 2026 Budget: Art. 1 sets the Provincial Administration's total expenditures at $7,440,756,391,052 (~$7.44 trillion) and Art. 2 estimates current and capital resources at $7,573,083,939,705 (~$7.57 trillion), yielding a projected positive financial result of ~$132,327 million (surplus). Spending composition by purpose (consolidated): Social services $3.97 T, Economic services $1.06 T, Government administration $1.70 T, Security $590,761 M, Public debt $125,195 M; capital expenditures (public works) total $1.166 T. Resources and debt regime: Art. 27 sets the authorized use of credit for 2026 at $855,829,375,994; Art. 31/32 empowers pledging as guarantee, assigning in payment or in fiduciary ownership the hydroelectric, oil and gas royalties, the extraordinary production fee and the Federal Revenue-Sharing to instrument the debt. Art. 34 extends the credit-use authorization of Law 3481 (2025 Budget) to operate with the Bank. Anticyclical funds: Art. 42 authorizes allocating funds from Art. 2 of Law 3269 (FEDEN - Neuquén Stabilization and Development Fund, made up of the export-royalty surplus) to public works; Art. 43 enables using up to the entire Anticyclical Subfund (Law 3269) for 2026 debt maturities; Art. 46 suspends Law 3391 (FEPN) for 2026. Enacted on 12/11/2025, promulgated by DECTO-2025-1735 (Official Gazette 12/23/2025). verif · Dec 23, 2025 ↗

Fiscal Year 2026 (in force from January 1, 2026; enacted 12/11/2025, promulgated and published in the Official Gazette on 12/23/2025). prob · Dec 23, 2025 ↗

The entire Neuquén provincial public administration and, indirectly, every economic agent and investor with exposure to the province: the budget sets the framework of spending, resources, public works and borrowing of Vaca Muerta's main district. For the satellite-ecosystem investor, provincial solvency -a projected surplus, falling debt and hydrocarbon royalties as the anchor of resources and the guarantee of the debt- is a subnational sovereign-risk variable: it conditions local fiscal predictability (rate stability, capacity to honor commitments, continuity of the public works that drive service demand). prob · Dec 23, 2025 ↗