Public spending in 2023 will exceed expectations

According to the Regional Center for Sustainable Economic Strategies (CREES), the cost could be higher than anticipated because it is a year before the elections. According to the Regional Center for Sustainable Economic Strategies (CREES), the central government’s budgeted spending for next year will exceed the estimate for 2022 by RD$84 billion and may be higher because it is a pre-election year. The central government’s spending for 2023 will be RD$1.2 billion, representing a 7.2% increase in government spending and an 18.1% increase in GDP.

According to a CREES website article, the increase in spending is 26.6%, or RD$262 billion, when compared to 2021. Current transfers are the item with the most weight in the budgeted public spending for 2023, totaling RD$334.9 billion. This item includes transfers to the electricity sector totaling RD$70.4 billion, which is equivalent to US$1.2 billion; and spending allocated to the Social Policy Cabinet totaling RD$50 billion, of which RD$7.6 billion is a subsidy for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for households. 

There will also be a fuel subsidy through the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Mipymes worth RD$20 billion, as well as current transfers to pay interest on the Central Bank’s recapitalization worth RD$28 billion, or 0.4% of GDP. According to CREES, employee remuneration items have a large weight within the current expenditure of the 2023 Budget, amounting to RD$297 billion, and debt interest expense, amounting to RD$253 billion. The payment of interest on the public debt is budgeted for RD$188 billion in 2022.