Taveras Guzmán raises Dominican national leadership meeting to deal with crisis

The businessman and candidate for senator of the Santo Domingo province, Antonio Taveras Guzmán, asked the government to urgently summon the country’s economic, political and social leadership to agree on a profound reformulation of the National Budget, taking into account that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP ) could experience a reduction of between 5 and 6% this year.

According to Taveras Guzmán, it is necessary to make a great national agreement to increase public investment in health and social assistance, while protecting the productive apparatus, employment and social peace, in the context of a crisis that could trigger the fiscal deficit. above RD $ 200 billion (US $3.7 billion).

The candidate for senator for the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) and allied forces considers that the increase in public investment in Health and social assistance should also be financed through the reduction of non-essential expenses of the State: contemplate a transitional reduction scheme exceptional and temporary public wages above RD $ 50,000 (US $925) (may be 10%) and above RD $ 100,000 (US $1850) (may be 20% of the surplus).

“We are facing the biggest health crisis in our history, and we must jointly prevent it from generating famine, destroying our productive apparatus and sources of formal and informal employment. It is time to act as one body, as one country,” he declared.

According to Taveras Guzmán, it would also be possible to have more resources to face the coronavirus, if the expense of propaganda of all state agencies is eliminated, except for Public Health and the JCE.

Likewise, the businessman and business leader maintain that the National Budget should be reformulated by cutting expenses related to: shadow toll (RD $ 4.6 billion), 5% of the discretionary resources of the Presidency (RD $ 3.4 billion); savings in the electricity subsidy (up to some RD $ 10 billion over the RD $ 24.1 billion originally budgeted), increase in collections due to the rise in the price of gold (there would be some RD $ 5 billion above the current budget); reallocation of part of education capital spending to the health sector; and prohibition of any payment to ODEBRECHT.

He understands that the procedures with multilateral organizations must be urgently exhausted to identify all the fresh resources available so that the country can face the necessary increases in health spending and social assistance programs that it will have to maintain well beyond the month of May.

“Without a profound reformulation of the 2020 budget agreed upon by the entire national leadership, the country’s economic and social stability is endangered,” concluded businessman Antonio Taveras.