The thread continues, the discussion continues and there will likely be updates as this is published. Let’s recall the basic figures for 2024, that is, the need for financing ($1 billion). Deficit 5.5 / debt repayments: 5 / 2023 obligations due: 4 … total: $14.5 billion.
How to finance? There are several options that come from various sources and visions, which I list and apparently generate more than the required 14.5. VAT: 1.5 / Tax on banks: 0.2 / Tax on bank owners: 0.1 / Increase of ISD to 6%: 0.6 / Wealth tax: 0.5 / Abolition of income tax exemptions: 1 / Higher Luxury ICE: 0.3 / December 2023 tax bill: between 1 and 1.5 / New or renewal debt: between 4 and 6 / Leave arrears for 2025: between 3 and 4 / Repeal with or without targeting fuel subsidies: between 1.5 and 3 / Don’t close Yasunà : 0.5 / Reduce unproductive costs: between 1 and 3 / Total: between 15 and 22… that is, solutions that exist!
On credit, banks and politicians
You can choose your own (or add others), we definitely need a collective agreement to find the best alternatives. It is not just a matter of making a list and “being creative”, it is essential that the selected mechanisms must be sustainable (not just solve problems in 2024) and aim for higher economic growth in the trend, because this means jobs, income and a better life for people. Also be clear that all mechanisms have an impact on someone, so the point is not to impact, but to create better (or less bad) impacts and incentives.
I would leave aside: a) Tax on banks, because it contradicts three important goals: more credit, lower interest rates and less likelihood of the introduction of international banking; b) Increasing FDI, because we need the economy to be more open to the world, and not scare off external flows (because barriers to exit become barriers to entry).
Keep exploiting ITT
With the proceeds from the December 2023 tax bill, the arrears that will inevitably carry over into 2025 (hopefully limited to under 3,000 million) and the new debt (about 5,000 million), always thinking of a national compact, I would support: a) Tax on bankers (natural persons) on distributed profits, instead of tax on banks; b) Increasing the VAT, bearing in mind that there are many exemptions for basic products and that it is better to do everything at once than spread over three years; c) Increase of ICE for luxury products; d) Abolish exemptions from paying income tax, but it would be best within a tax reform that lowers rates, simplifies processes and abolishes privileges; e) Directing fuel subsidies to public transport; f) stop the closure of YasunÃ; g) Thinking ahead, an agreement to promote oil and mining (and crack down on illegal mining) and mechanisms to collect from those who don’t pay (shouldn’t be that hard).
And all this in addition to something as crucial as significant cutting of useless costs that threaten, in the short and long term, something fundamental in development: productivity (good use of resources)… Shall we go or not? (OR)
Source: Eluniverso
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
