The official said mayors must wait until he has “approval in the Assembly.”
Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said this morning that he could not be “forced” to pay the fines he had owed to city halls for more than nine months. “The resolution is clear and says that the minister must take the steps incumbent on him to make payments, because I know that I cannot force myself to pay it directly,” Zelaya said, referring to the resolution of the Constitutional Chamber.
However, on February 4, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court ordered the finance minister to carry out “immediately” the administrative and financial procedures for the funds to be paid.
The highest court orders them to make a transfer schedule, so that the delay in payment is not “repeated”, which is mandatory because it is the law of the Republic.
SEE ALSO: Fodes Default for 7 months affects the population, not the mayors
The treasury has stopped transferring money to 262 mayors since June 2020. By January of this year, the debt amounted to $ 360 million, as reported last month by the president of the Institute of Municipal Development of El Salvador (ISDEM), the mayor of San Salvador, Ernesto Muyshondt.
“Mayors have to wait for the codes until we have the approval in the Assembly; I can’t pay them and I risk not paying the external debt “, the minister said during the interview on channel 12.
The new Legislative Assembly will begin its term on May 1, in which the ruling party New Ideas will have the majority of seats and will be in favor of the Nayib Bukele government.
Zelaya also acknowledged that they are behind payments to suppliers. “We started to reduce spending on fiscal cash, there were not only delays with Fodes, but with suppliers; We had to delay it so as not to get involved, “he added. He also reiterated that “I am obliged to prioritize spending to avoid damage to public finances and citizens, I can not stop paying the salaries of doctors and nurses to pay mayors.”
He also said that in February they planned to raise $ 987 million, but raised $ 919 million, so he hopes that in March and April they will be able to offset 2% and raise the collection above budget.