Minister Arbeleche said that the government maintains fiscal responsibility
“We are spending the same amount that was proposed a year ago in the Accountability Report,” said the Minister of Economy and Finance, Azucena Arbeleche, yesterday, Monday 9, after meeting with authorities of the Rural Association of Uruguay (ARU), at its headquarters at Expo Prado 2024. The minister highlighted the role of the agricultural sector in the national economy, recalled figures on job creation and valued the increase in real wages.
At a press conference, Arbeleche said that during the meeting, the significant role of the agricultural sector during the months of the COVID-19 pandemic was reviewed, which allowed the economy to continue functioning, the impact of the water crisis and the current conditions, favorable for an improvement in competitiveness.
The minister assured that the Government has maintained its fiscal behaviour, without this affecting the exchange rate. “We are spending the same amount as was proposed a year ago in the Accountability Report,” she said, and explained that, however, tax collection has decreased due to a lower increase in prices.
He also valued the importance of incorporating environmental issues into economic policy and highlighted the common points with an innovative productive sector, which agrees with the Government’s policies and is increasingly concerned with developing a sustainable system. In this regard, he recalled that the savings obtained from the issuance of the bond associated with the fulfillment of environmental goals are allocated, through the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP), to renew the production methods of the agricultural sector.
In another order, he stated that during 2023, 76,100 jobs were created, which made it possible to surpass the number of jobs eliminated during the pandemic and the previous administration. Added to this is the increase in real wages, which began in December of last year, as a result of a specific policy, and is expected to continue during this year and the next, he noted.
Finally, he said that an article was included in the budget law to lower the import rate on food from the Technological Laboratory of Uruguay (LATU), the common external tariff for imports was reduced by 10% and work is being done, together with the Ministry of Public Health and the MGAP, to simplify records and facilitate access to better prices for citizens.
The minister was accompanied by the Undersecretary, Alejandro Irastorza; the Director of Economic Policy, Marcela Bensión; the Advisor on Environmental Economics, Juan Labat; the Director of the Office of Planning and Budget, Fernando Blanco, and the President of the Central Bank, Washington Ribeiro.
