The session this Thursday, defining for the official alliance, began two hours late and the presence of groups of residents and mayors of different departments, who went to the legislative headquarters to request approval of the spending plan, as suggested by the President Alejandro Giammattei on recent work tours.
The surroundings of the Hemicycle remain guarded by agents of the National Civil Police to prevent the passage of protesters.
Last Tuesday, the deputies began the discussion of the Budget opinion presented by the Public Finance Commission of Congress, which increased the amount of the initial proposal in charge of the Ministry of Finance.
For three days, the opposition benches opposed supporting a ruling that is based on the increase in more debt and contains significant reductions in specific areas of Health (care for women victims of sexual violence and pregnant women), as well as education and social development.
The Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies of Guatemala also regretted in a statement that the Finance Commission neglected most of the 34 recommendations presented to eliminate the anomalies present in the text.
Among them, the need to have a budget focused on greater social welfare and economic growth, transparency, public investment in children and adolescents, as well as the closure of spaces for waste and corruption, they indicated.
According to the entity, these objectives were supported by various sectors such as indigenous and ancestral authorities, along with opposition groups, very critical of continuing to increase the public debt to prioritize operating expenses of most ministries and Congress itself.
Now, the legislators will define the articles and the final wording of the Decree of Approval of the Budget for the coming year, occasion in which amendments could be included if they get a majority of the vote.
acl / mmc
