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Much lip service and ink have been spilled over budget execution. The vast majority of voices, including those from the government, have repeated that it is very low, insufficient and that it denotes the inability or inefficiency of the government. From this they deduce a lack of achievements by the government of change. Neither one nor the other resists the objective look of the figures. Let’s see.
Once the execution percentages have been verified, the criticism is simply not true. A simple rule of evaluation is that of twelfths. With figures as of November, the optimal execution would be eleven twelfths or 92%. Well, the commitments, which are the acts issued and the contracts entered into through which the budget is executed, amount to that optimal parameter, standing at 92%.
Since averages are deceiving, it must be highlighted that there are sectors with a significant lag, presenting executions of less than 50%. Such is the case of the Presidency, 16%; Planning, 42% and Environment and Sustainable Development, 49%. As one month of delay can be measured with 8.3 percentage points of execution, these sectors have a lot of room for improvement. However, the four sectors with the largest size and impact exceed the execution average: Education, 98%; Health and Prosecutor’s Office, 95%; and Defense and Police, 94%. The Public Debt excluded from the total is 95%. Two other sectors, with an impact on the economy, are Transportation with execution of 81% and Housing with 63%, the first with a little more than a month of delay and the second with three. Deficient yes, but not catastrophic.
In terms of obligations, which correspond to the amounts to be paid for the receipt of goods and services by the entities, the execution reaches 85% and that of payments for goods and services actually received, 84%, figures at a maximum of eight points. percentages of the optimal 92%, equivalent to less than a month of delay in payments compared to contracting, which is explainable.
Hence, public spending plays its role in the government’s achievements – so little recognized. A significant milestone is having reduced the unemployment rate from the peak of 13.7% recorded in January to 9.0% in November, the lowest for this month in five years. Faced with the reductions in private investment and demand for housing due to high interest rates that have caused the slowdown in economic growth, compensation has come in significant part from public spending, from the real increase of six percentage points in the minimum wage agreed for 2023 and the boost to the popular economy.
To this must be added the achievements in agrarian matters: 56,000 farmers awarded property titles, the acquisition of 212,000 hectares and the formalization of 1,212,000 more, in the commitment to the agrarian reform so often postponed; exceeding the compensation goal for 160,000 victims of the armed conflict, the increase in the remuneration and well-being of the public force and the transition of Families in Action towards Citizen Income increased to half the monthly minimum wage for nearly three million families , a million more than Familias en Acción had, among others.
The advances are not small and reach those most in need. Regarding the impact of government action, we should stick to the facts, without neglecting deliberation, criticism and recognition due to management. Let’s not talk nonsense and look at the figures.
Clara Lopez Obregon
2024-01-07 06:41:25
#Lets #talk #nonsense #figures
