On June 10, President Bernardo Arévalo offered social bonds to help Guatemalans solve their economic situation due to the high cost of basic necessities and other services.
“A one-time bonus of Q1,000 will be granted to one hundred thousand families in extremely poor homes without electricity in rural areas,” said President Arévalo on that occasion.
Q150 million would be allocated for the payment of the “Single Bonus” and the extension of the “Social Bag” program, but two months later, the payment of Q1,000 has not yet begun to be executed.
On July 31, authorities from the Ministry of Development (Mides) commented during an event at a school in Chinautla that the “Single Bonus” would arrive in August, but today the Vice Minister of Social Protection, Bertha Zapeta, confirmed that the initial date has not yet been defined, although it is believed that it will be in September.
The official justified that there is no delay, but that the processes must be transparent.
“It is not delayed, it is taking the steps that correspond to an intervention. So the time that we are developing for this intervention of the Single Bonus, we are in the right time and we are making the processes transparent in the sense that we are not arriving with lists, but rather our teams from the Ministry of Development are reaching each one of the communities,” Zapeta assured.
According to the Vice Minister, this program is expected to reach some 2,106 populated areas in 137 municipalities, where families without electricity will be identified to benefit from it.
To identify families, Mides developed an instrument called geographic targeting, which allows them to identify areas where there is no energy service.
The portfolio is currently continuing to collect data to determine how payments will be made to the communities.
“If there are ATMs nearby in the area, we can use them through an electronic transfer. If there are none in the area, we will have to opt for the option of a mobile unit of the bank,” said Zapeta.
However, the payment method remains undefined, as there are villages with very difficult access and residents would have to travel several hours to urban areas to access an ATM.
More programs announced
With the recent approval of the recent budget expansion, President Arévalo announced different measures to “mitigate the high cost of living” that, according to him, will affect the prices of the basic basket of goods.
This program has an investment of Q500 million to the Ministry of Agriculture to grant farmers loans, as well as Q400 million for the purchase of fertilizers, seeds and farming tools that will be distributed to farmers.
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