Three Economic Scenarios Towards Stabilization | Tres escenarios económicos hacia la estabilización

By El Diario:

They propose three economic scenarios if the Government opts for stabilization

  • International organizations are divided in their projections of the country’s growth; while some lean toward recession, others are optimistic, indicating that it will surpass 1%.

Faced with the dilemma between gradualism and a more drastic adjustment, economist Hugo Siles warns that if the Government decides to seriously apply a stabilization plan with the elimination of subsidies and measures to attract private investment, the country will face a scenario of falling growth and inflation above 30%, with positive results only toward 2030; meanwhile, organizations such as the Milenio Foundation underscore the importance of liquidity and financial stability.

Siles points out that the Milenio Foundation, in its latest economic report presented last Thursday, developed three prospective scenarios: base, stabilization, and growth.

In the first, Milenio maintains that if the current Government does not make changes in the economy, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate between 2025 and 2030 will be between -1.1% and -0.9% in 2030. Inflation would be between 32.93% in 2025 and 22% in 2030.

In the second case, if the hydrocarbon subsidy is lifted and fiscal adjustments are made to reduce the public deficit, the GDP growth rate will stand at -1.1% in 2025 and 1.1% in 2030. Inflation in 2025 will be 32.9% and in 2030, 5.99%.

In the third case, if in addition to lifting the hydrocarbon subsidy, fiscal adjustments are carried out and growth policies are promoted (a favorable ecosystem for private investment with regulatory adjustments), growth in 2025 will be -1.1% and in 2030, 4.4%. Inflation in 2025 will reach 32.93% and in 2030, 2.97%.

Liquidity

At the time, economist and professor at the Technical University of Oruro (UTO), Ernesto Bernal, announced that stabilizing the economy will require resources of about 10 billion dollars.

Among the plans of the former candidate of the Alianza Libre, Jorge Quiroga Ramírez, was 12 billion dollars, while now the new State administration, headed by Rodrigo Paz through his Minister of Economy Gabriel Espinoza, announced that they expect to obtain 9 billion dollars for the next three years.

The economic analyst also dared to provide some figures that the national economy will require to stabilize the exchange rate, guarantee the importation of fuels, and meet its international obligations, such as external debt.

Analysis

In the presentation, Milenio emphasized that the food sector is the main inflationary driver, reaching a rate of 36.2% as of September 2025. The subsidy policy could be hiding repressed inflation.

Recently, the elimination of the subsidy for bakers will cause an increase in the price of the marraqueta, between 70% and 80%; a similar situation will occur with fuels, which will also provoke an increase in the prices of basic food basket products.

Growth

In the growth scenario, Milenio projects that the unemployment rate will fall to 2.70% toward 2029, but it requires an aggressive structural reform.

Economists have already pointed out, such as Darío Monasterio, the need to restore institutionalism as well as to provide conditions to attract foreign investment.

It also indicates the decline in hydrocarbon exports by 35% between January and September 2025, being a central factor in the crisis of foreign currency and fiscal revenue.

Spending on diesel and gasoline imports is projected at 2.89 billion dollars for 2025. The subsidy, adjusted to the parallel exchange rate, would hover around 2 billion.

Public debt reached 44.06 billion dollars as of August 2025. The Debt/GDP ratio falls to 78.5% nominally, thanks to the statistical effect of high inflation on GDP.

Meanwhile, the public sector maintains a high fiscal deficit, projected around 10% annually for 2025, repeating previous levels and exacerbating internal pressures. However, economic analysts project a figure close to 11%.

The economic crisis deepened

Milenio states that in the 2025 term, the country is enduring a general deterioration of fiscal, monetary, financial, commercial, and productive indicators. As expected, the economy has entered a recession phase, which deepens macroeconomic imbalances and makes it more difficult to restore economic and social stability.

Analyses by economic experts coincide with those of the Milenio Foundation, which indicates that fuel shortages, accelerating inflation and increased cost of living, as well as the shortage of dollars, the volatility of the exchange rate in the market, lower economic activity, job precariousness, and the reduction of labor and family income are the effects of the crisis the country is experiencing.

“The government of Luis Arce could not stop the advance of the crisis. Its performance, marked by fiscal populism, squandering of resources, rising inflation, chronic shortages, depletion of reserves, and macroeconomic mismanagement, is inherent to the collapse of the Bolivian economy,” indicates the Milenio summary.

Reformulation

Last week, the Minister of Economy and Public Finance, Gabriel Espinoza, announced three decisions to be taken: the payment of debts, the reformulation of the 2026 General State Budget (PGE), and the elimination of four taxes that will be submitted to the consideration of the Legislative Assembly: Wealth Tax (IGF), Financial Transfers Tax (ITF), and the tax on games and business promotions.

On the other hand, the Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy, Mauricio Medinaceli, stated that in three weeks they will provide a response on the matter of the fuel subsidy, once the analysis of operational costs has been completed.

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