Former Finance Minister Lea Giménez questioned the poor macroeconomic management of the government of Mario Abdo Benítez, which she considers “the worst of the democratic era” due to various factors.
Through a thread posted on his twitter accountLea Giménez expressed her criticism against the management that the current government has had in macroeconomic matters.
In that sense, he pointed out that there were several aspects that were forgotten in the last Presidential Management Report, released on Friday, among them the significant and widespread deterioration of economic indicators.
“The current economic conditions are remarkably similar to those that Paraguay experienced at the beginning of the century, around the period 2002-03, when it was facing its worst recent economic moment,” mentions the former minister of the Treasury portfolio.
Another aspect is the 10-year decline in the average worker’s income, which occurred in parallel with the rise of 2.3 percentage points in unemployment and underemployment to 13.7%.
Around 2 million Paraguayans are poor, mostly children, and a significant percentage of women heads of household, according to the data that were released in this publication.
Giménez also questioned the rapid growth of public debt, which was largely to cover expenses and not for investment. From 19.8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the end of 2018, it went to 35.8% as of May 2022, which represents an increase of 81%.
The annualized deficit of -3.6% of GDP as well as debts with suppliers of 1.2% of GDP were other details that, in the opinion of the former minister, were also not mentioned in Abdo Benítez’s presidential report. “They will need to slow down investment and spending to reach the -3% established in the General Budget of the Nation,” he added.
Following this line, he emphasized the fact that the level of inflation has reached 11.4% and the absence of economic growth in the entire period of this government with a contraction – again – expected this year.
“In 2022 we are the WORST in the growing region. GDP per capita 2022 will be more than 7% lower than in 2018”, she maintained.
“Stop campaigning and take care of the people. We must stop impoverishing people”, demanded Lea Giménez, while advocating working to overcome welfare with substantive solutions.
