On November 27, President Lasso sent the communication to the President of the Assembly, Guadalupe Llori. The Assembly has 10 days to pronounce
The Government was ratified, on November 27, in the original proposal of the 2022 budget proforma and the 2022-2025 four-year programming. The President of the Republic Guillermo Lasso sent the President of the Assembly, Guadalupe Llori, the written reply indicating the ratification of the Executive Branch in its original proposal. This because the November 19, the Assembly informed the president that the plenary had made several observations to the proforma.
There were six observations and four recommendations that had to do, among other issues, with the review of allocations for Education, Health, retirement incentives, and clarifications on the income to be achieved with the monetization of assets and debt mechanisms.
The president also included responses to each of the Assembly’s concerns. This based on the report of 57 pages sent by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and in which he explains with figures and tables how the respective assignments were made.
About the budget review request assigned to Health and Education, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, explained that the increases ordered by the Constitution are being met. On the other hand, about the Universities, it is explained that the assignments to Universities do increase from $ 1,105 million in 2021 to $ 1,129 million in the 2022 proforma.
Meanwhile, on the request to review the assignments for retirement incentives, the Government clarifies to the Assembly that they are values that have been accumulated in previous governments, since 2008. However, it explains that what will be allocated in 2022 is what can be delivered while respecting fiscal sustainability.
There was also a concern on the part of the Assembly, in the sense of explaining how they have been established jail allowances. In this sense, the Government also explained that in the total there is an increase from $ 108 million in 2021 to $ 124 million in 2022. However, there is a significant increase in permanent spending: for example, the issue of spending on goods and services rises from $ 55 million to $ 94 million. On the other hand, there is a decrease in non-permanent spending (investment) that drops from $ 52 million to $ 30 million. There is also an increase from 9 to 21 million, for the Secretariat of Human Rights.
Another of the concerns of the assembly members had to do with thecertainty of obtaining resources for $ 940 million of non-permanent income associated with monetization (concessions or sales of state assets). On this issue, the Government clarified that the possible assets to be monetized are the Esmeraldas Refinery, Termogás Machala, Sopladora, Monteverde and Banco del Pacífico. The first four under a concession figure and the last one for sale. All of them amount to approximately $ 2,800 million, so what is obtained will depend on the agility of these processes.
After the ratification of the proforma, the Assembly has 10 days to pronounce on the subject. According to article 295 of the Constitution, it may ratify its observations, in a single debate, with the vote of two-thirds of its members. Otherwise, the programming or proforma sent in second instance by the Executive Function will come into effect.
The 2022 budget proforma amounts to $ 33,899.73 million (including the Derivatives Financing Account, CFDD) and which represents an increase of $ 2,438.57 million (2.22% of GDP) in relation to that codified as of August 31, 2021 of the PGE.
Total income of the proforma total $ 24,114.62 million and expenses are $ 27,898.12 million, resulting in an overall deficit of $ 3,783.50 million, equivalent to 3.45% of GDP. This figure represents $ 29.70 million more than the deficit registered in the codified budget as of August 2021. In accordance with legal regulations, the proforma does not include any income expected by the Organic Law for Economic Development and Fiscal Sustainability after the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been presented to the National Assembly.
In any case, the deficit is expected to decrease, once it is expected to enter through the Ministry of the Law the tax reform that could deliver to the treasury about $ 1.9 billion in the next two years.
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
