The Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, referred to the impact on growth projections for the country and on what is expected to be collected with the tax reform that the government of President Gabriel Boric must present, after the suspension of the Los Bronces mining project and the stoppage of the operations of Inmobiliaria Fundamenta by the environmental authority.
It is worth mentioning that the Executive Directorate of the Environmental Assessment Service published the Environmental Qualification Resolution (RCA) of the Los Bronces Integrado project, confirming the unfavorable qualification of the project. In addition, the paralysis of the project carried out by the Fundamenta Real Estate in Ñuñoa was decreed, which included the construction of more than a thousand apartments in four different towers and which stopped when a third of the work had been completed.
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consulted by The MercuryGiven the situations described above, Minister Marcel stated that “I do not see an anti-investment attitude in the President or in my colleagues with responsibilities for the economy.”
“It seems to me that there is a clear awareness that the country needs to grow, that investment is important, that it is important to improve productivity, human capital, and there is a whole agenda, there is a whole chapter of the government program that has to do with this”, added the head of the fiscal wallet.
“Of course the investment must contribute to sustainable growth, socially and environmentally,” added Mario Marcel.
The head of the Treasury took the opportunity to review, in this sense, how the tax on high net worth in the country will work, although he ruled out that it is a tax on the super-rich.
“The tax on the super-rich was proposed as an isolated measure, in the heat of the debates on the social outbreak and the covid-19 crisis. In the government program and the programmatic implementation agreement, there is more talk of a tax on the wealth, which includes real estate and financial assets, as well as inheritances and donations between people,” he said.
Last week, Minister Marcel presented his first Public Finance Report (IFP) for the first quarter of this year as head of the Treasury portfolio, revealing a drop in growth estimates from 3.5% to 1.5%.
In a conversation with the morning paper, the head of Teatinos 120 specified that the macroeconomic scenario with which the previous government prepared its last report “was not consistent with a reduction in inflation this year” and that “the current projection tries to be prudent, realistic and consistent”.
In addition, Minister Marcel was emphatic that the government of President Gabriel Boric “does not plan to cut back on its social agenda” and advanced some aspects of the tax reform they are designing.
“Beyond the additional space that can be achieved with reallocations or efficiency gains, the tax reform is going to be very important to finance the entire government program. It is with the resources of this reform that it will be possible to finance the most important changes, measures and programs,” said Mario Marcel.
Along these lines, he stated that “the government has no plans to cut back on its social agenda.” What does have to be clear, he said, “is that the social agenda and the government’s commitments are going to be fulfilled throughout the government period.”
