The president of the Senate Ramon Alburquerque warns the Executive Branch about onerous borrowing, sometimes for projects for which the final destination of the money is not known. One of the loans highlighted by Alburquerque is for US$50 million for signposting. President Mejia says that Alburquerque is miffed because he was not chosen as PRD candidate to run again for president of the Senate. Mejia also says that what the government does with the loans is not up to the Senate. Alburquerque recommends that President Mejia read the Constitution where the functions of the Senate are established. He again urges prudence on behalf of the Executive Branch because he says the country is already paying 20% of its budget for foreign debt service, and if the debt is doubled, the state would end up paying 40%-50% of the budget. Alburquerque’s call for prudence comes after the Senate has passed about US$700 million in foreign loans with commercial banks plus a bill that would authorize the US$500 million in sovereign bonds, all in less than 11 months since the Mejia administration began.
