The non-governmental organization Oxfam has documented evidence of would-be corruption in government. After carrying out a forensic analysis of the National Budget, the “Fiscal Autopsy” report by Rafael Jovine zoned in on the numerous grey zones where 22 government institutions have spent around RD$80 billion on programs that have no plans or objectives.
In an editorial on the “Fiscal Autopsy” report published on 31 October 2019, Diario Libre newspaper points out that the report detailed an old practice in government that has worsened because of the failure of Congress to exercise its role to oversee government spending and investments.
Writes the Diario Libre editorialist: “In recent years, the Executive Branch discusses a budget at its discretion and sends it to Congress for approval with some ‘candy’ to convince legislators. The result is that Congress acts as a rubber stamp of the government’s dealings and the whole country is harmed, because the Budget is no longer an instrument of development, national needs are not prioritized and the impact that the programs will have on the improvement of the people is not analyzed. In this virtue, the Budget has become a kind of blank check in favor of the government. And that is not how it should be.”
The report, “Fiscal Autopsy: Assessment of the Dominican Government’s Expenditures and Revenues to Guarantee Rights” reveals that at 22 government ministries there are mystery expenses. It mentions 40 programs in the central government institutions where there is little information on the spending of RD$79.32 billion, that is 1.8% of GDP.
The report also identifies that from 2016-2018 around RD$16.7 billion in resources has been questioned in the media regarding cases of widespread corruption. The study points out that this is double the funds that the government has available for covering the needs of the country’s municipalities.
The report points out that in the last 20 years the cases of embezzlement of the National Treasury reported in the media yield an annual average of RD$41.62 billion, or 1.1% of GDP. “Taking as a reference the cases strictly attributable to the public sector, the average annual amount is RD$30.8 billion, equal to 0.8% of the GDP.
“The volume of resources involved in cases of corruption and political patronage covered by this study is equivalent to the combined budget of ten ministries together,” Oxfam indicates in the “Fiscal Autopsy” study. It reveals that 61% of the cases have remained at the complaint level, and only in 10.9% of these has there been a conviction.
Read more in Spanish:
Autopsia Fiscal
Diario Libre
Hoy
31 October 2019