The norm, in detail
Neuquén's 2026 Budget: surplus, royalties as an anchor and falling debt
Ley provincial 3552 (enacted 12/11/2025)
in forcePROVINCIAL
Fiscal and monetary anchor
Ley 3552 sets Neuquén's 2026 spending at $7.44 trillion against $7.57 trillion in revenue: a projected financial surplus of $132,327 M.
What changed and who it applies to
What changed
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 Ley 3481 (2025 Budget) to operate with the Bank. Anticyclical funds: Art. 42 authorizes allocating funds from Art. 2 of Ley 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 (Ley 3269) for 2026 debt maturities; Art. 46 suspends Ley 3391 (FEPN) for 2026. Enacted on 12/11/2025, promulgated by DECTO-2025-1735 (Official Gazette 12/23/2025). verif Dec 23, 2025 ↗
In force
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 ↗
Are you in or out?
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 ↗
The norm
Ley provincial 3552, "Presupuesto General de la Administración Provincial para el Ejercicio Financiero 2026" (the 2026 provincial budget, 50 articles), passed by the Legislatura del Neuquén on December 11, 2025 and enacted by the Executive (DECTO-2025-1735-E-NEU-GPN), published in Neuquén's Boletín Oficial on Tuesday, December 23, 2025. It articulates and extends earlier rules: Ley 3481 (2025 budget, use of credit), Ley 3269 (FEDEN / counter-cyclical sub-fund), Ley 3391 (FEPN, suspended for 2026) and the borrowing framework of Ley 3434 (authorization of public credit operations for up to USD 500,000,000 -up to USD 350 M for public works and USD 150 M for amortization-, with terms of up to 15 years, secured by hydroelectric, oil and gas royalties and/or federal revenue-sharing). Previous fiscal years: Ley 3481 (2025) and Ley 3434 (debt authorization). verif Dec 23, 2025 ↗
Our reading
Neuquén reaches the Vaca Muerta boom with the accounts in order: a 2026 budget with a projected financial surplus, $1.17 trillion for public works prob (a demand engine of the satellite ecosystem) and debt the provincial government has been amortizing. Hydrocarbon royalties are the anchor -they sustain resources and back the debt as guarantee-, which gives the province fiscal discipline and credit access without depending on national transfers. It is the other, provincial face of Milei's fiscal anchor: a solvent district, with clear rules, is firm ground to plug into the boom. thesis
Where it lands, province by province1
The other rules on this subject22
Fiscal Package: asset amnesty, moratorium and tax cutsLey 27.743 (Official Gazette Jul 8, 2024)in force
Fiscal anchor: surplus two years in a rowExecutive execution policy on the extended budget (Decreto 1131/2024)in force
Payment to holdouts: closing the 2001-default lawsuitsLey 27.818 (promulgated by Decreto 564/2026, Official Gazette Jul 1, 2026)in force
The "lock on the State": fiscal balance by lawLey 27.798 (2026 Budget), art. 1 — in force; the permanent "lock on the State" still a billpending
PAÍS Tax: it rose, fell and expiredDecreto 29/2023 + Decreto 777/2024 (expiry of Ley 27.541, 12/23/2024)in execution
Renting out and selling housing no longer pays income taxLey 27.802 Title XXIV + Decreto 406/2026 (Official Gazette Jun 1, 2026)in force
Ignacio Aredez· Chief analyst
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