In a propaganda video released on Sunday evening, the president reported that he would veto the reallocation of funds made by the Assembly in the early hours of December 24.
President Nayib Bukele will sanction some of the decrees approved by the Assembly on the nation’s general budget for 2021 and will veto others that contain readjustments of the articles, but did not specify which of them.
The announcement was made through a propaganda video broadcast on his social networks, in which he confirms that he will support increase the minimum pension from 204 to 304 USD per month that the deputies did it through an agreement of ARENA, FMLN and PDC.
SEE: Assembly approves 2021 budget with minimum pension increase to $ 304 per month
However, in the video, the Government blames the deputies for the changes made to the project sent by the Treasury and suggested that it will veto the part in which the Assembly guaranteed the payment of Fodes to the mayors.
In the video, he also states that the Government hopes to readjust the budget for 2021 in May, when the new Assembly enters, as the Executive hopes for the support of the polls for the ruling party.
The draft budget presented on September 30 by the Minister of Finance, Alejandro Zelaya, had some financial cuts, one of these adjustments was made in government consulting and advertising articles, CEPA, Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia, CIFCO and other institutions.
Expenditure cuts were also made to Capres, the OIE, the army and the communications secretary. Despite these cuts, they managed to reduce the budget deficit to $ 138.7 million.
Among the reorientations approved to the budget is the $ 5 million increase for the Court of Accounts of the Republic (CCR), an institution responsible for controlling the management of state funds.
In addition, a $ 7 million budget consolidation for the Attorney General’s Office, which will allow a prosecutor to be placed in each polling station during the election, as prosecutor Raúl Melara explained to the Finance Committee.
For the Office of the Prosecutor for Human Rights and the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, a total of $ 5 million was increased.
ALSO: The assembly has reduced official propaganda in the 2021 budget to increase the minimum pension
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) in recent months has called for a $ 5 million budget boost for the 20201 elections under COVID-19 protocols. The assembly approved this increase.
Similarly, $ 20 million has been increased in the budget of the University of El Salvador, which will help provide more scholarships, free fees and online courses.
Budget cuts
However, as Members explained in order to comply with the increases, reductions were made for a total of $ 450.12 million in various portfolios, including: The Presidency of the Republic was reduced by $ 47.1 million; 27 million to the Treasury and 27.6 million to the Defense.
Also, the parliamentarians did not allocate the 22 million dollars requested by the National Administration of Aqueducts and Canals (ANDA) for the compensation element.
Similarly, the Presidency of the Republic, CEPA, the National Charity Lottery, CIFCO and other institutions were reduced by a total of $ 7.9 million for propaganda.
In the same vein, another $ 25.6 million was cut for consulting in the National Register of Individuals, FISDL, Treasury, CEL, ANDA, among others.
Despite these cuts, it was possible to reduce the budget gap from $ 1,342.2 million, which the government raised to $ 159 million.
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