Scraping the pot, but announcing tax party

Hseveral months ago that the only source of information on issues of economic growth, natural gasinvestedn and others is the Mministry of ANDeconomy and Ffinances(MEF).

Presentan their data, usually in public statements or interviews or in the propaganda system politics of the officialdom and not like that, through ofthe organs public established by Law como National Institute Statistics (INE).

with rare andxceptions, we are facing to a process of deinstitutionalization of statistical information. The data he hasn left to be a public good to become inputs of the marketing political. For example, we are entering the ninth month of the year and still the INE has not submitted gross domestic product data (GDP)not even himadvances for the first semester of the period index IGAE.

Also data on the situation of tax revenues, that should be on the website of the aforementioned ministry, they do not exist. The Mministry of Pplanning should also publish information updated on the execution of public investmentbut there is nothing. Meanwhile, nor is it a surprise that figures that be favorable to position of government leave quickly, but filtered by bureaucrats from MEF. Maybe the exception is the central bank from Bolivia that provides information on your page Web, but also very late.

I wouldn’t want to think, as I said the previous hierarch of the nomenclature of can, who are selecting data and cooking themas it is said in the jargon of the economiststo the manipulation of figures. The political grope rude of the Census is proof of the institutional damage, in progress, to our statistical information system.

The way scattered, late and dosed politically of presenting the data creates uncertainty, mistrust and speculation. It is urgent to recover the majesty, promptness and transparency of statistical data published by facu public bodiesListed by Law.

In this fog statistics, appear contradictedtions. For example, sand advertisen record export figures, which is certainly good news, nevertheless, It is observed that the international reserves of the Central Bank of Bolivia do not increase or even continue to decrease. It was to be expected that a higher inflow of dollars improve our international position. dowhy is it happening andthis phenomenon? Simpleand. The speed of public spending or investment and imports financed, in part, by international reserves is higher than the money coming in from exports.

Likewise, first I know announced, whatEU in the 2022,we would have aefficiency audience of 8% of the product, but in the first months of the current year fiscal surplus announced, which would constitute another good news, however this is contradictory with some signals that send public policies in course, for example, higher foreign debt. In fact is it so in process of approval 400 million dollars of the Ccorporation Andina of Fomentum (CAF) and another 1 are also waiting,200 million dollars from various international organizations.

Likewise, does not agree with the idea of ​​fiscal sanity, the fact that the government takes the Supreme decret 4783, which establishes that all the profits of the state-owned companies pass into the hands of the TI pray Ggeneral of the Nation (TGN). The new one legislation also sets that the fines in the financial system pass to the central state.

It is also surprising that in this context of fiscal bonanza, fueled by propaganda official, regulations are announced that will allow the purchase/saleshe international reserves gold. or a project Of law which authorizes the BCB a credit of 3,000 million Bs to the MEF. In pthe rise of economic nirvana the sale of grandmother’s jewelry is announced and ask for more loans.

Finally, heto pose of fiscal slack is not consistent with the sharp drop that has occurred in revenues from the hydrocarbons sector. Rremember that in the year 2014the state, received 5.200 million dollars for the internal and external sale of natural gas. ANDCurrently that value has been reduced to something like 2.600 million dollars a year. The hollow by close is very big.

Also, the surplus is likely public global –announced the fifth month of the year is due to heto low execution of public investment (IP). Dand done, I know they have very scattered data on the subject. ANDn at some point it was said that, to Junel 2022, the investment public; for instance, of the regions would not exceed 17% and in an accusatory tone it was said that public investment in Santa Cruz was around 10% in the middle of the year. We do not know what the execution levels of this variable are at the national level. Let us remember that this year a public investment of 5,000 million dollars was promised. In 2021, it offered 4,000 million dollars and was executed 65%.

Either way, announcing fiscal surplus for not having made an investment, it is a trap for a first-year economics student.

The truth about the milanese is that, at leastthe government is bass strong stress fiscal. The government has less revenue and keeps investment and public spending high.

It is urgent to address the current and investment public deficit from the side of spending rationality and optimization of public investment. Cut propaganda and eliminate privileges of trade unionists in public companies, for example. He also deserves a tax reform so that the new rich of the last 15 years pay more taxes.