After declaring the necessity for an urgent approval, the Senate went through the process of two readings and then the rubber-stamped approval of the PLD government’s near-trillion peso budget for 2020. The budget, at RD$997 billion, is the highest in the nation’s history.
The Senate also approved the plan of the Executive Branch to seek nearly a quarter-of-a-trillion in Central Bank or Hacienda notes to cover the budget deficit. The budget has yet to be approved by the Chamber of Deputies.
The ruling PLD party has the majority in the Senate. The bill now moves to the Chamber of Deputies, where the split of several PLD deputies to side with former President Leonel Fernández and his new People’s Force (La Fuerza del Pueblo) political party, could continue to delay the passing of the 2020 budget. Nevertheless, recently, the needed votes to pass a complementary budget for the 2019 National Budget were secured in the Chamber of Deputies.
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Listin Diario
El Dinero
Listin Diario
16 December 2019