Budget expert Jose Rijo Presbot says that the Medina administration showed a fiscal deficit of RD$1.18 billion in January. “In budgetary execution the government has started out very badly, prioritizing spending that is not related to people’s basic needs. Even worse, the government has had to pay RD$12.8 billion in interest payments, and make a domestic bond auction through the Department of Public Credit for RD$5 billion. He said that in January, the government paid the RD$12.8 billion in interest payments, RD$11.3 billion in current transfers and subsidies, RD$11 million in wages, RD$2 billion in severance payments and RD$1.95 billion for purchase of goods and services.
Of this amount, he said that the Medina administration spent RD$480 million on advertising and propaganda and RD$226 million on government department electricity bills.
He estimates that the government ended the month with a deficit of RD$7.5 billion to balance the budget.
Rijo Presbot said that there is no way that the government is not using public resources for the campaign because this is a society where there are no consequences. “The only way that the government can be legal is if it executes the National Budget the way it was approved,” he said. He said the people needed to demand that public funds are not used in the Medina re-election campaign because the government already has problems with balancing the budget.
Rijo Presbot: déficit fiscal en enero fue de RD$1,182 millones
