El Salvador: Assembly steps back in approving $ 300 million requested by the Government

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At the request of deputies Ricardo Velásquez Parker and Donato Vaquerano, from ARENA, the two opinions of the Finance committee were withdrawn from the study of the plenary session. The rulings contained two requests from the government for deputies to approve $ 300 million in loans to combat the pandemic.

The deputies would discuss this Thursday in plenary session the approval of two loans with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for a total of $ 300 million. The funds are aimed at fighting Covid-19 and fiscal recovery as a result of the disease.

According to the decree of law published on the website of the Assembly, a loan of $ 250 million is for an Emergency Program for Macroeconomic and Fiscal Sustainability. Part of the loan distribution will go to the mayors, 30% of the total amount as agreed in the issuance of $ 2 billion of debt to combat the pandemic, which according to the decree would correspond to $ 96 million.

The remaining resources will be destined to complement the counterpart of the projects executed through FOMILENIO II to finance the payment of pensions and benefits to veterans and veterans; payment of suppliers of the central government and municipal governments; and financing to farmers, says the text of the decree.

Previously, the breakdown of the funds had been agreed as follows: $ 96 million for mayors; $ 50.7 million for Fomilenio II; $ 32 million for the Civil Protection and Disaster Mitigation Fund (Fopromid); and $ 32 million restitution to the Ministry of Finance for the funds used for the Covid-19 emergency.

However, last week the Minister of Finance, Alejandro Zelaya, requested that the $ 32 million that were going to return money to the Treasury, be transferred at once to Fopromid. The money is administered by the Ministry of the Interior.

While another loan of $ 50 million always with the IDB is for the program "Immediate Public Health Response to Contain and Control the Coronavirus and Mitigate its Effect on Service Delivery in El Salvador.

In the draft legislative decree it is mentioned that the funds will be executed exclusively and centrally by the Ministry of Health, for which reason they may not be transferred to other national institutions, in accordance with the provisions of the Contract for said loan.

In this regard, some deputies have already expressed their opinion on whether their votes will be ready this Thursday to approve said loans in the first round.

Deputy Rodolfo Parker, of the PDC said, that is not going to happen now nor is it going to happen, as this government (Nayib) Bukele and his people will deserve, that the Assembly continues to authorize funds when they are robbing the unpopulated, they are even thundering the finances of the mayors, we have had to go through the uncertainty of facing these storms that thank God did not cause major damage in El Salvador, but having left Bukele deprived of the 262 municipalities of the necessary funds that correspond to Fodes, which are sacred funds of the mayors and have the courage to continue asking for money here from the Assembly and now they are hiring lobbyists in the United States, paying with money from Salvadorans paying lobbyists to go and wash the image of what they are doing here, they are not going to achieve it .

ARENA's fraction chief, Carlos Reyes, regretted that the non-payment of Fodes makes them think that they could not approve the loans requested by the Government.

ARENA fraction chief Carlos Reyes said, the lack of compliance of this government regarding the Fodes issue, we know that the communities need all these funds, and unfortunately we had just had that impasse and it has been more than five months that the projects and funds are not reaching the mayors.