The Government will have a financing need to close this year in the order of RD$50,000 million to RD$60,000 million, a situation that will increase the deficit from RD$174,000 million to RD$220,000 million (from 3.1% of GDP to 3.6% of GDP), revealed the head of the General Budget Directorate, José Rijo Presbot.
The official explained in detail the amount of resources that have had to be allocated as targeted subsidies, to agriculture and fuels, which so far this year exceeds RD$52,000 million, equivalent to RD$14,540 million additional to what was budgeted.
He explained that as a result of the effect of the war and inflation, financing will be required, “which will not be more than RD$60,000 to RD$50,000 million. From RD$100,000 and below we are going to say because we are still making adjustments”.
He indicated that the reduction of resources will be in the institutions with budgets in the preventive process and they do not have a real commitment for the end of the year, although he did not identify them. He said that for this the Digepres will wait for the 15th of this month to pass so that the institutions can make their modifications.
“We have identified all the expenses, but we are still waiting for the 15th, due to a standard process, because 15 days of finishing the day before the quarter can make changes to their structures,” he said.
He explained that the investment is distributed from the first day, since all the projects are budgeted and those follow their normal course.
He specified that “the issue is in the subsidies”, where the largest amount has to do with the Treasury Obligations, with the subsidy for electricity and in Industry and Commerce with the fuel subsidy; in Agriculture, with the subsidy to producers, with fertilizers and Inespre; and to the Presidency with the Aliméntate program, the Economic Kitchens, the Social Plan, within the Social Policy Cabinet, which is what increases the deficit by the end of the year.
Will send to Congress l 25 the reformulated Budget
Rijo Presbot also said that before the 25th of this month, the reformulated budget bill for this year 2022 (complementary) will be sent to the Congress of the Republic; and that before October 1 they will present the Budget bill for the year 2023.
However, he maintained that there will be institutions that will have to be helped, such as the Ministry of Public Health, since due to inflation the prices of high-cost medicines have been affected; to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and in turn to the UASD and the “Cora”, that is, to all the Water and Sewage Corporations, to the aqueducts of the National Institute of Potable Waters (Inapa), among others.
In addition, the projects announced by the President of the Republic will not be affected either, because they are contained in the National Budget.
The official announced that the 2023 Revenue and Expenditure Bill will have a lower deficit than this year, to send a signal that there is a sustainable commitment to public debt.
fuels
In just one week, the Government allocated RD$1,793 million to subsidize fuel prices. Last week (from 6 to 12) it was RD$450 million and it will reach a total of RD$29,268.7 million, revealed the General Director of the Budget (Digepres), José Rijo Prebot, noting that if it had not been for the intervention of the State inflation would have reached 15.9% in the Dominican Republic.
With this action, the official also said, more than 240,000 people were prevented from falling into the poverty line. Rijo Presbot spoke at Digepres where he explained the “Government budget management in times of crisis”.