2024-10-01 10:50:38
After decades and marking a historic event, for the first time, the deputies of the Legislative Assembly received the draft General State Budget Law, special and autonomous budgets and the Salary Law for fiscal year 2025, which will be fully financed. so there will be no need to issue a single cent of debt for the cancellation of current payments.
The Minister of Finance, Jerson Posada, reported that the amount for next year amounts to $9,663 million and will only be covered with what is issued nationally, without requesting loans. This amount is a decrease of $970 million compared to the estimated closing budget for 2024, and includes all estimated expenses for the next year without the need for additional financing.
Given this, the president of this State body, Ernesto Castro, pointed out that “this budget is historic. For the first time, it is fully financed and that represents a before and after as part of the economic plan that has been drawn up.”
This occurs after last September 15, the President of the Republic, Nayib Bukele, announced this commitment in his speech for the 203rd anniversary of Independence: “We will present the first fully funded budget. “El Salvador will no longer spend more than it produces annually.”
That is why the Minister of Finance said that: “Today we are delivering the first fully funded budget, the estimated current revenues will finance expenses such as salaries, goods and services, current transfers and payment of debt interest.”
In addition, he said that capital income, such as loans and donations already approved by the Legislative Assembly, will finance capital spending, which is mostly concentrated in investment projects.
“Starting next year, El Salvador will no longer spend more than it collects annually, we will continue to guarantee compliance with national and international obligations,” commented Posada.
The annual public investment program will be strengthened with $1.7 billion, which will increase $131.9 million – equivalent to 8.4% of interactive growth – which will generate a catalytic effect on private investment and consequently on the country’s economic growth.
The document delivered by the minister will go to the Finance Commission to be studied, in advance, together with the representatives of each of the State portfolios.
The Government has efficiently managed the resources available in the budget, which has been favored by the strengthening of collection mechanisms. Part of the implemented strategies that have contributed is the Anti-Evasion Plan, with which effective collection has been achieved, which translates into multiple benefits for Salvadorans.
“The 2025 budget project is adapted to the needs of current times,” said Posada, who assured that to achieve the country’s economic independence, good management of resources will continue, with the investment of taxes efficiently and prioritizing public spending in strategic sectors such as health, education and security.
The government’s strategic axes for 2025
The budget project has as a priority the three central axes of government public policies: health, education, security and defense.
For this, the Treasury is allocating $3,609.6 million, which adds up to 37.4% of the entire budget broken down as follows:
Education will have an allocation of $1,535.8 million, which will ensure resources for programs and projects related to the Grow Together Law for the Comprehensive Protection of Early Childhood, Children and Adolescence. Under this context, the Treasury allocated $29.7 million for the National Council for Early Childhood, Children and Adolescence; $14.1 million for the Crecer Juntos Institute; $218.5 million for attention to the Early Childhood Program.
Health will total $1,170.4 million, so attention to the Growing Healthy Together Program, Comprehensive Early Childhood Development will be strengthened for $80 million. Also, $25 million has been assigned to the Integrated Health Program and funds were allocated for the improvement of infrastructure and equipment of the national network of hospitals and health units for $3 million.
For the medical emergency system, said State portfolio allocated $8.6 million to have this field in a broad way and with a rapid medical response at the national level.
Security and defense will be assigned $903.4 million.
On the other hand, in the field of public works, large investments will be made to continue promoting the transformation of road infrastructure and the local development of the municipalities. That is why $140 million was budgeted for the Municipal Works Department, Posada said.
The 2025 budget gap
Due to the efficiency of the state administration, it has allowed the budget gap to be closed gradually.
Since President Bukele came to government, the budget gap has decreased, year after year. In 2019, at the beginning of his mandate, this gap amounted to $1.2 billion, the following year it was reduced to $645 million and in 2022 it was $496 million.
While the gap for the 2023 budget amounted to $472 million, that is, $26 million less than the gap that occurred in 2022.
For 2024, parliamentarians approved a budget gap of $338.6 billion, which represented a reduction of 28.32%. By the 2025 budget, the gap will be zero dollars.