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The revised budget allocates an additional $1.5 billion. The bill also allocates over $1.3 billion for 2022.
The CEO of BudgetJosé Rijo Presbot assured the availability of resources for the work of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Dominican justice system. He made these remarks regarding the increase in the amount allocated in the Draft General State Budget Law for 2022, to the Attorney General's Office.
In that regard, he stated that far from a decrease in the improvement of the work of that judicial body, “For the Public Prosecutor's Office and the justice system, there will always be resources available to make the contributions they require.”
Rijo Presbot reiterated that “The PGR budget was previously affected by the entire prison construction program of the penitentiary system; by removing that important item, the budget is reduced from about 10.5 billion to 5.8 billion pesos.”
He noted that this year, the budget for the Attorney General's Office was originally 7,005 million pesos and that, in the reformulated budget submitted to Congress in July, that amount was increased to 8,912 million pesos.
“For 2022, the budget is 8.399 billion pesos, an increase of 1.393 billion pesos compared to the initial budget. This total of 8.399 billion pesos is what is budgeted in the Bill that we hope will be approved in the coming days by the National Congress.”he said.
In that same vein, Rijo explained that, as a measure to enable resources for certain institutions, a reformulation was developed that will allow the funds that have not been executed by December 31st to be available next year. “In addition to the 8.912 billion pesos allocated this year, the Attorney General's Office has received an additional contribution of 1.5 billion pesos, and any unspent funds will be carried over to next year.”.
However, he clarified, the other institutions, as established by law, have a term ending on December 31st, and any unspent funds do not exist. “With that, the Attorney General’s Office could have around 9.9 billion pesos for 2022. And we would continue to contribute to the extent of our abilities.”.
He added that this revised budget also included an increase of 2.5 billion pesos for the Judiciary and 750 million pesos for the Central Electoral Board to cover this year's deficit. Increases were also made to the Chamber of Accounts and the Superior Electoral Court.
The fight against corruption is a reality
Rijo Presbot highlighted the effort made by the Government to reduce spending and the deficit by more than 60%, starting from last year, which has gone from 7.5% of GDP to below 3%.
He asserted that the efficiency and transparency measures implemented by this Administration have allowed for the improvement and redistribution of spending.
“The fight against corruption from the government is not just a pose, it’s a fact, it’s a reality. Because we believe that this is how we can dedicate more money to health, education, public safety, and decent jobs.”he emphasized.
Improved risk rating
The Director General of Budget highlighted as one of the achievements the improvement in the risk rating given by two rating agencies, which raised the economic outlook of the Dominican Republic from negative to stable.
In that regard, he stated that, “Despite the pandemic and all its consequences, the Dominican Republic is the only country this year that the two most important risk rating agencies, Standard & Poole and Fitch, have improved our rating from negative to stable, due to our robustness, commitment to reducing the deficit and responsible debt management.” He added that the debt has been reduced from 58.2% to 51% and that it is expected to end up below 50%.
José Rijo Presbot made these statements during an interview on the program “El Día”, hosted by Huchi Lora and Carolina Santana and broadcast on Telesistema Canal 11.
