74.7% of the private external debt that Nicaragua’s finances carry is generated by the millionaire diversion of funds made by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, through the oil agreement signed with the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez Frías.
The former deputy and economist Enrique Saénz warned that in this situation that the country’s finances are experiencing, with the total external debt reaching $14.308 million, the highest point in the 15 years that the regime has held power in Nicaraguathe weight of the diversion of the millionaire resources from the oil agreement with Venezuela aggravates the nation’s international debt crisis.
The report on the economic behavior of the country as of the third quarter of 2021, recently released by the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN) detailed that, of the 14,308 million dollars that are equivalent to the country’s total external debt, 7616 million dollars are public debt; referred to indebtedness of the State with multilateral organizations, international banks or through bilateral agreements with other countries. Others 6691 million are part of the private debtwhich falls mainly on companies and banks operating in Nicaragua.
However, of these 6691 million, Saenz pointed out that five billionaccording to the same records of the Central Bank, are part of the indebtedness component linked to the oil agreement with Venezuela, managed with discretion and no transparency by operators of the Ortega regime.
This implies that of the total private external debt, the 74.7% of it It is originated in the discretionary management of these millionaire resources by Ortega.
“The latest report from the Central Bank shows that the foreign debt amounted to 14.3 billion dollars, including public and private debt. It should be noted that private debt includes the debt with Venezuela, which, it is always appropriate to remember, Ortega appropriated more than five billion dollars, according to Central Bank records. For now, that debt is recorded as private debt,” warned Sáenz.
The increase in the country’s total external debt at these levels has a direct impact on the pockets of Nicaraguans, by creating a severe problem of contraction of the General Budget of the Republic (PGR) and an increase in the prices of consumer goods and services. This scenario also limits the borrowing capacitiesof the nation due to its limited ability to pay.
The economist underlines that in 2020, Nicaragua made available 350 million dollars for the payment of debt service, an amount that will probably increase in the country’s future budgets. This will further reduce the scope of the PGR to cover key expenses, which implies reducing economic benefits for State employees or resource allocations for key sectors such as education and health, among others.
Diversion of Venezuelan cooperation
Another detail noted by Sáenz is that the diversion and discretionary use of the resources generated by the oil agreement is the root of the business conglomerate managed by Ortega and his family, with the support of figureheads.
CONFIDENTIAL published an investigation this Sunday, February 20 based on documents from the Mercantile Registry and also on a database from the Nicaraguan Institute of Social Security (INSS) in which the structuring of a network of 22 companies is revealed, in which five lawyers and 18 close associates of the presidential family participate, that are nourished by establishing business with public institutions.
Saenz himself was who analyzed the details of the investigation from CONFIDENTIAL in an interview with the program This weekwhich is broadcast on Facebook and YouTube, due to the regime’s censorship.
Sáenz made an estimate of the assets gathered by Ortega around the network of companies and their operations. “Before, it was said that there was a confusion between family interests, the party and the State. In reality, the party is an absolutely non-existent issue. It is the family and their relatives, appropriated from the instruments of the State”.
“A good indicator is these two audits that were made known to BanCorp, in which this capital entrusted as trusts is reflected. It did not appear as a deposit, but in something called a memorandum account. That is why the Superintendence of Banks (Siboif) did not reflect it as a deposit in BanCorp. (That) gives us an idea of the floor: the minimum because it is expressed (in the document): $2.73 billion in 2018”, said the former deputy and economist.
