Bolivia: With the highest fiscal deficit in its history by its Bicentennial | En su Bicentenario con el déficit fiscal más alto de su historia

By Erbol:

QUESTIONED THE ECONOMIC MODEL

Cainco to Luis Arce: ‘Are you aware that the country will have the highest fiscal deficit in its history by its Bicentennial?’

The president of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Industry, Commerce, Services, and Tourism (Cainco), Jean Pierre Antelo, posed a series of questions to President Luis Arce on Monday regarding the ongoing issues in the country.

“President, are you aware that by the Bicentennial, the country will have the highest fiscal deficit in its history in absolute terms, which also implies a lack of external resources and significant inorganic issuance with inflationary consequences for the next administration?” was one of the questions raised by the businessman.

He then referred to the Productive Community Social Economic Model, which Arce was the “principal architect” of and has been upheld as successful for over a decade in Bolivia.

“However, today the country faces inflation, fuel shortages, a parallel dollar, and a deeply affected economy, highlighting structural problems. If that model was the correct one, at what point did it cease to be so?” he questioned.

Antelo argued that the country is facing a crisis with no decisions, leadership, or clarity on what needs to be done. “What happened? Was the model unmanageable when resources were lacking, or was it simply never a self-sustainable model as it should have been?”

In the midst of this economic crisis, he asked if industrialization is a real possibility to change the country’s productive matrix, given that small producers “do not feel its benefits” and that entrepreneurs have been “left out.”

“President, are you aware or informed about how food prices have risen?” Antelo asked, referring to the 9.97% inflation rate and the annual variation of nearly 15% in the food sector.

He also questioned whether fuel supply for this year would be guaranteed, given the emergence of new lines and complaints about shortages in some regions.

To this, he added whether the dollars used to import diesel come from mortgaging the Central Bank of Bolivia’s gold reserves or from debt “just to finance an election year.”

“The underlying issue is that Bolivians are being trampled on repeatedly, and smokescreens divert attention from the real problems, which won’t disappear with the Bicentennial celebrations but instead tarnish our joy. Everything is overlooked,” he emphasized.

Additionally, Antelo questioned the conditions in which this year’s elections will take place and the guarantees of transparency and legitimacy in the electoral process, given the “constant” interference by the Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal (TCP) in the approval or rejection of candidacies. ///agc

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