In January, pensioners and retirees, universities, social programs, provincesinvestments, public employees, family allowances, everything has fallen into the trap of cuts to budget items.
The data comes from the Congressional Budget Office (OPC) “Analysis of the Budget Execution of the National Administration” which, in summary, some of these cuts affected the budget items intended for the payment of pensions (-32.5%), benefits social (-59.5%) and personnel expenses (-18%) compared to the same period in 2023. This allowed the government to achieve a fiscal surplus, despite interest debt increasing by 139.1%.
The report indicates that “it is due to a decline in expenses, essentially linked to social benefits, greater than that suffered by the decline in receipts suffered in the month of January The National Administration recorded a real financial surplus 77.2% higher than that obtained in the same month of the previous year”.
Likewise, total income contracted by 1.3% in a year-over-year comparison due to the decrease in resources from social security (-26.5%) and income taxes (-40.3%) , partially offset by increases in PAIS tax (411.6%) and export duties (88.5%).
For their part, the primary expenses (before interest) of the National Administration decreased by 30.8%.
As a result of this dynamic between income and expenditure, a financial surplus of 1,206,985 million dollars (0.20% of GDP) was recorded. compared to 0.10% of GDP in January 2023.
The report also states that, with the exception of transportation subsidies, “all concepts showed real decreases in year-over-year comparisons, the most significant being capital expenditures (-75.6%), social programs (- 59.6%), transfers to the provincial sector (-53.3%), pensions and pensions (-32.5%), personnel expenses (-18%), family allowances (-17.7%) and transfers to universities (-16.5%). .
On the other hand, interest on debt grew by 139.1% essentially due to the payment of coupons on bonds issued after debt restructuring. And transportation subsidies increased by 144.9%, mainly due to subsidies for urban rail services.
“As regards pensions and pensions, the decline is explained by the difference between the update of the assets due to the application of the mobility formula and inflation, partially compensated by the application of compensatory bonuses to pensioners and pensioners with higher incomes low.”
On the other hand, “social programs were affected by the loss of value in real terms of benefits and by the failure to register in January in some programs (such as Potenciar Trabajo and Becas Progresar, with registrations in the first days of February). While in personnel expenses, the wage guidelines agreed in the analyzed period were lower than the increase reflected in the general price level”
No expenditure on energy subsidies was recorded in January 2024 as in January 2023, the report said.
Source: Clarin
