A week after the meeting between the outgoing president, Guillermo Lasso, and elected president Daniel Noboain Carondelet, as the beginning of the transition to the new Government, on Monday, October 23, the Minister of Economy and Finance Pablo Arosemena sent a letter to the highest bodies of public sector entities in which he announced “Guidelines for optimizing public spending” for the last quarter of the year.

The purpose of the guidelines is to “protect efficient use of resources availability, as well as the sustainability of public finances”, says the document signed by Arosemena.

The guidelines contain provisions on personnel dismissals and public procurementwhich all entities that make up the public sector must comply with, in accordance with Article 225 of the Constitution:

Optimization of staff consumption

They are established five conditions for staff entry in the last quarter of the year (October, November and December): due to the return of the holder to the original workplace due to termination of service and licenses; substitutes for unique positions; replacement of positions at a higher hierarchical level, only those that were abolished in the months of September and October, and which are a priority in institutional management; server re-entry due to compliance with court rulings; and basic staff in the health and education sectors.

In other measures, it is determined that the positions Higher hierarchical level (NJS) that remained vacant until September 2023 will not be filled until the end of the year.

Interrupting entities temporary employment contracts and/or temporary appointments, They will not be able to hire or involve staff in charge of investment projects.

Nor is it allowed to hire staff to replace employed staff unpaid service or license fees. No additional funding will be allocated for ongoing personnel costs or investments, for the hiring or entry of new personnel in fiscal year 2023.

In addition, for all subjects of the general state budget (PGE), are suspended application procedures that require a decision from the Ministry of Finance.

That includes: job opening, upward review to classification, position assessment or any other type of movement that creates a budgetary impact or involves additional funds.

Administrative processes related to the inclusion of additional personnel in newly established entities are also suspended.

Finally, between October and December There will be no approval for the payment of additional and overtime hours for workers and officials of public institutions.

Guidelines in public procurement

Within this part, measures were determined for three segments: Budget verifications, availability of resources and new employment.

The first indicates that the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) will implement settlement of those certificates that were issued in the second quarter (April, May and June) and that it will not be implemented until October.

As for the second point, the document states that The MEF will not issue the availability of funds for new investment projects, It will not approve budgetary increases in current spending or investment, it will not approve reprogramming of obligations and accounting fees (except for justified exceptions for the ministries of health, education and social welfare).

It is noted here that entities that do not carry out emergency response activities issued by El Niño phenomenon They must refrain from planning, programming, certifying and initiating new contracting processes for permanent and non-permanent expenditures that are not a priority for institutional functionality.

Budget amendments will not be authorized to finance new procurement processes for goods and services. or durable goods. No new guarantees will be given for transfer costs and fixed assets either, except in cases relating to contracts signed before the guidelines issued on 23 October.

Finally, in the area of ​​new contracts, the MEF stipulates that public service institutions may not generate new public contracting processes, and the transfer of resources from the group of goods and services to the group of long-term goods is prohibited from the beginning of long-term property contracting processes.

The document, signed by Pablo Arosemena, concludes by indicating that pending applications and/or processes that fall within the prohibitions set forth in the office’s guidelines have been suspended and will be reversed in applicable cases.