Hoy today criticizes the government’s call for a consensus on paying the increased exchange rate commission. The newspaper says that in the past, there has been no official interest in reaching an agreement with the business sector and the writer recalls how the government discarded the recommendations made by a private and public sector mixed committee it had appointed regarding reductions in government payroll.
“The sectors whose help is now being solicited are those that time after time have warned of the potential damage to the economy – precisely what we are seeing now – caused by excessive foreign borrowing and extravagant government spending,” says today’s editorialist. “Similarly, despite warnings against the practice, the government has gone far beyond a rational framework to help financial institutions in difficulty, with ill-fated results for the public finances.”
The newspaper is very critical of the government’s economic decisions and the contradictions between President Mejia’s announcements that he would continue spending and Central Bank Governor Jose Lois Malkum’s recommendations for reduced spending until economic indicators show an improvement.
The newspaper says that the problems of the country belong to everyone: “When that is understood, then matters of the state should not be in the same league as politics. The country would then be free of watching its problems worsen and the cooperation of the government would be there before any crisis obligates an undertaking of heroic measures.”