The plenary session of the National Assembly of Panama received on Thursday afternoon, the presentation of the bill that dictates the General State Budget for fiscal year 2023, by the Minister of Economy and Finance (MEF) Héctor Alexander, after being approved in the Cabinet Council.
For 2023, the General State Budget amounts to B/.27,162.9 million, which represents an increase of 6.4% or B/.1,628.0 million in relation to the estimated closing budget for 2022.
The minister pointed out that the restructuring of this budget has been a difficult task, given that the country is still suffering from the consequences of the COVID-9 pandemic and is currently facing two major impacts: a monetary impact and another impact caused by the war. of Russia with Ukraine.
“We are suffering from the excess liquidity that the United States and the European Union release into the markets and that has meant that right now we are experiencing a rise in prices in general, so we have two major impacts, a monetary impact, due to the policy currency and another impact caused by Russia’s war with Ukraine,” Alexander explained.
In his years as minister, Alexander points out that he has had the most difficult budget restructurings, pointing out that in 2020-2021 he has had to face the consequences of the pandemic where the Government had to contract spending and reallocate items and in 2022 has encountered the two financial impacts mentioned above.
“We are suffering from the excess liquidity that the United States and the European Union release into the markets and that has meant that right now we are experiencing a rise in prices in general, so we have two major impacts, a monetary impact, due to the policy currency and another impact caused by Russia’s war with Ukraine,” Alexander explained.
In his years as minister, Alexander points out that he has had the most difficult budget restructurings, pointing out that in 2020-2021 he has had to face the consequences of the pandemic where the Government had to contract spending and reallocate items and in 2022 has encountered the two financial impacts mentioned above.
He pointed out that the budget will be impacted, in addition to the decisions that are being made in the Single Dialogue Table and he stated that the greatest challenge in the future is the sustainability of economic growth and social debts, which will have to be seen how he confronts him in the middle of a revival.
