The representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Guatemala, Maria Oliva Armengol, and a team of technicians, concluded a country visit last Friday, prior to the future evaluation of Chapter IV that was scheduled for 2024, which is more in-depth and which concludes with a series of conclusions and recommendations for the government.
The official visit aimed to learn firsthand regarding the balance and evolution of the main macroeconomic indicators such as public debt and the business climate, as well as the political situation, among others.
The IMF team had meetings with representatives of the government sector that took office last January, authorities from the Bank of Guatemala (Banguat), Superintendency of Banks (SIB), Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT) as well as delegates from the organized private sector, and it was pending official notification to review Chapter IV, which might occur in this first semester.
Meeting
Through a press release released this Monday, the Ministry of Finance (Minfin) reported that the IMF mission learned of the main fiscal policy results for 2023, related to tax revenue, budget execution and public debt management.
In this parameter, the tax burden of 12% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023 stood out; tax revenue, 12.7% of GDP; a budget execution of 97%; fiscal deficit, 1.3% of GDP; and the debt/GDP ratio of 27.8%.
In addition, a program of the institutional evolution of public finances for the current government administration was released, as well as the 2024 forecasts.
Patricia Joachín, Vice Minister of Finance, in charge of the area of Income and Fiscal Evaluation, announced that the strengthening of the management and transparency of public administration, as central axes for Guatemala, was discussed before the mission delegates.
In this sense, the Public Investment Management Evaluation (PIMA) was addressed, as well as the Update of the Fiscal Transparency Evaluation.
This is because although Guatemala shows significant progress, there are areas where improvement must continue, such as improving the transparency of fiscal reports; the application of the principle of unity in the formulation and approval of the budget; and the expansion of the coverage and depth of the analysis of fiscal risks, as well as the institutional strengthening that allows improving the comprehensive management of fiscal risk, it was indicated.
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