The Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP), stated this Sunday that the country and its citizens have lived through two years during which their income has been affected as a result of COVID-19 and the restrictions imposed to stop it.
He added that, at the same time, they have witnessed the squandering of funds by a government that not only avoided doing what it was entitled to do, which was to reduce high salaries, but also continues to increase the already exorbitant payroll. The last slap in the face in this sense has been given by the Local Governments, which, as part of an absolutely proselytizing strategy, use funds destined for community works, to pay administrative expenses
For businessmen, the distribution of budgets with political criteria is immoral, even more so taking into account that there are productive sectors making enormous efforts to maintain jobs and reactivate the economy.
The union considers that the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic has to comply at all times with its legal duty to audit and supervise the management given to all state funds, not doing it timely and impartially, makes it an accomplice of these wastes.
The National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (ANTAI) has the responsibility to be proactive and act as required by law, it cannot wait for journalistic investigations to explode before reacting and acting.
Regarding citizenship, he said that it is important to maintain a vigilant attitude. In this sense, this guild has decided to assign specialized personnel to follow up on the formulation and execution of government budgets; as well as the use of the funds.
The times and our financial reality -a debt equivalent to 65% of the GDP- require us to rationalize state spending, favoring investments that improve our future prospects instead of compromising them.
Beyond the financial aspect, the mismanagement of public funds perverts the social fabric and deepens the lack of credibility in the institutions, factors that could eventually pass bills that not even money can pay, concluded the CCIAP.
