The Minister of Economy and Finance Azucena Arbeleche presented this Wednesday the fiscal situation of the country in 2022 and the macroeconomic prospects for 2023, ensuring that economic activity and employment grew last year.
In addition, he affirmed that the tax relief that President Lacalle Pou will announce in March is based on the fiscal responsibility of the entire government.
In his presentation, he said that for the third consecutive year the fiscal goals were met and that the fiscal deficit was around 3.2% and inflation ended at 8.3%, according to the provisions of the Accountability. Then, he explained that the economic activity in 2022 was significant and resulted in job creation.
Regarding the growth of the gross domestic product (GDP), he pointed out that the projections indicate that in 2022 it will be around 5%, close to what was forecast for the period, with some uncertainty due to the impact of the drought. The final figure will be known in March, after the report from the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU).
Arbeleche mentioned that the components of this important economic activity include consumption, investment and dynamic exports with record levels, adding that household spending registers an important evolution and that it is expected to continue increasing to the extent that keep growing the real wage.
He also highlighted the investment incentive carried out by the Executive Power and referred to the dynamism of the projects presented in the Commission that regulates the investment promotion law (COMAP), with 2,573 million dollars, and the generation of 8,000 new jobs.
The minister expressed that GDP growth, increased employment, the recovery of real wages and targeted transfers will allow the work of poverty reduction to continue.
The hierarch asserted that Uruguay is expected to grow by around 2% in 2023. In addition, it is estimated that there will be 12,000 new jobs. In terms of inflation, the projection stands at 6.7% for this year, and in terms of the fiscal deficit, it is estimated at 2.5% of GDP.
“The prudent and responsible management of public finances allowed us to face the Covid, allocate resources to priority areas, and today it allows us to face the drought and announce the tax reduction,” said Arbeleche.
Regarding the economic policy deployed, he maintained that macroeconomic stability and responsible administration will generate direct benefits for the population.
