The “gap” left by the administration of Luis Guillermo Solís is larger than what has been said so far. To fill it, the extraordinary budget of about ₡600 billion proposed by the government last week will no longer suffice. Now it will be necessary to send another additional budget, to complete some 900 billion needed to meet the expenses of the State.
The confession was made by Rocío Aguilar herself on Monday afternoon at the Monumental Radio Nuances Program. Although she didn’t call it a “miscalculation,” she did confess that the economic projections made a year ago by the previous administration were not met and now more resources are needed to address the shortfall.
What has happened in 2018? The growth of the economy has been lower than expected in June of the previous year when the budget was made; In particular, the items that have generated the greatest deficit come from the importation of new vehicles, fewer new vehicles are being imported because there is less demand from consumers,”
said the official.
Aguilar pointed out that the final figure of the new extraordinary spending plan has yet to be calculated, and will depend to a large extent on the new figures that the Central Bank may give on economic reactivation, and on the actual estimate made on the under-execution of expenditures.
The level of expenditure execution is normally below the budget, between 5% and 10%, and in addition we have to take into account the containment measures that have already been taken and are underway and that will generate a greater reduction… the net number is not something I can estimate but it will be necessary to carry that budget,”
said Aguilar.
Last week the press released the problem of budget under- execution in the country, where if it had been possible to accumulate the amount not executed by the government in six years, the country could have paid the entire fiscal deficit.
The issue of the economic slowdown is something that is felt in specific sectors. According to economist Alberto Franco, this is especially visible in sectors such as finance, commerce and agriculture.
According to the economist, it is important that people resume confidence in consumption and begin to invest again, but for this it is important to have a firm ground that provides security first, and that is the fiscal plan.