Hacienda Minister Donald Guerrero submitted an additional budget request for RD$150 billion, the total budget for 2020 to the Senate on Saturday, 13 June 2020. The government party has majority in the Senate. Listin Diario reported it took the senators just 25 minutes to pass two readings of the bill.
This brings the National Budget for the first time to over the trillion pesos. The reasoning behind this mammoth budget request is that, according to the Minister of Hacienda, the government has suffered a RD$106 billion loss of income because of the the epidemic. The deficit has been partially offset by funds from the Dominican Institute for the Prevention, and Protection of Labor Risks (IDOPRIL), the Superintendency of Banks and other sources for the sum of around RD$29 billion.
Guerrero told reporters that the additional expenditures for the “Quédate en Casa” and “Pa’Ti” relief programs have added up to RD$22.8 billion and the “Fase” program costs RD$17.2 billion.
Guerrero noted that the government had already lost around RD$1.6 billion on the rescheduled elections. Guerrero, nevertheless, is upbeat about the recovery.
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Somos Pueblo
14 June 2020