The Comptroller General of the Republic raised the alarm about the budget project for 2025, in a report presented this Wednesday in which it warns that The initiative presented by the Government to Congress presents an imbalance of $12 billion, which would make it necessary to obtain additional income to balance the next term.
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The watchdog also questioned the fact that the investment budget for 2025 has been reduced by 17.4 percent compared to 2024, going from $100 billion for this year to $82.5 billion in 2025.
Despite the investment report, the Comptroller’s Office warns that operating expenses do register an increase, rising from $308.9 billion to $327.9 billion, That is, an increase of 6.2% compared to the previous period.
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In addition, the entity also questioned the “worrying decrease in allocation for key sectors of the economy such as housing and agriculture”.
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“The 2025 Budget Bill presented by the National Government proposes expenditures of $523 billion, with an increase of 3.9% with respect to the 2024 period, distributed as follows: operations $327.9 billion, debt service $112.6 billion and investment $82.5 billion. The projected revenues in the PGN for next year amount to $511 billion. To cover the deficit of $12 billion needed to finance the expenses estimated at $523 billion, the Administration plans an additional Financing Bill.”the Comptroller’s Office stated in the report presented on Wednesday in which it also requested clarity on this financing law.
The agency urged the Ministry of Finance to provide clear details on how this financing will be structured and which sectors or economic agents will bear the additional tax burden.
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The Comptroller’s Office additionally said that the inconsistency in tax collection projections is worrying, given that there are “inconsistency between the tax revenue estimates of the Medium Term Fiscal Framework (MFMP) and the proposed budget, with a 15.4% growth in the MFMP and a 3.6% drop in the 2025 PGN project”.
Another sensitive topic on The reason the entity put the spotlight on is that the Ministry of Finance would have 18 months to secure $29 billion in other undefined capital resources.
“The lack of clarity regarding these sources of financing can cause problems in the execution of the budget if they are not effectively implemented, as happened with the budget for the 2024 period,” said the Comptroller’s Office.
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