TRAINING ON PUBLIC FINANCE FOR LEGISLATIVE ADVISORS

TRAINING ON PUBLIC FINANCE FOR LEGISLATIVE ADVISORS

On Tuesday, April 9, the Argentine Congressional Budget Office (OPC) initiated a training program on issues related to public finances for the advisors of deputies and senators of the Congress of the Nation. The Director-General of the OPC, Gabriel Esterelles, together with the Director of Parliamentary Training of the Senate, Camila Duro, opened the training program at the Senate.

The purpose of the program is to introduce key issues for the interpretation of initiatives related to public resources and budget design to those who assist legislators in their work.

The program, jointly organized by the OPC and the Directorate of Parliamentary Training of the Senate, was designed around three main topics: taxes, expenditures and public credit, each of them to be addressed in two classes of two hours each, twice a week.

The sequence of face-to-face meetings is being held in different spaces of each Chamber to promote direct contact and facilitate the exchange of ideas.
This training plan, which will conclude on April 25, will be delivered by the directors of the OPC, with the assistance of their analysts:
Martín López Amorós, director of Fiscal Analysis, with Pedro Velazco and Emilio Nastri; Ignacio Lohlé, director of Budget Analysis, together with Laura Cafarelli, Julieta Olivieri and Romina Muras; Joel Vaisman, director of Sustainability and Public Debt Analysis, with Eugenia Carrasco.

ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET EXECUTION – FEBRUARY 2024

ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET EXECUTION – FEBRUARY 2024

Due to a decrease in expenditures (-23.8% YoY) and a slight increase in revenues (+0.4% YoY), in the first two months of the year, the National Government recorded a financial surplus 150.0% higher in real terms than in the same period of the previous year.

  • The primary surplus, which does not include interest payments, was 1,805.5% higher than that obtained a year earlier.
  • Total revenues grew 0.4% in the year-on-year comparison, driven by increases in the PAIS Tax (405.9% YoY), in Export Duties (70.9% YoY) and in VAT (15.4% YoY). These increases were partially offset by the decrease in resources from Social Security (-25.1% YoY) and Income Tax (-36.5% YoY).
  • Total National Government expenditures recorded a real fall of 23.8% YoY in the first two months of the year and the cut in primary expenditures, which does not include the increase in debt interest, rose to 33.6% YoY.
  • Pensions (-33.0% YoY real), energy subsidies (-59.5% YoY real), capital expenditures (-82.4% YoY real) and social programs (-29.9% YoY real) were the items that most contributed to the reduction in expenditures. However, debt interest grew 34.2% YoY.
  • In February, the financial result was in deficit (-ARS186.635 billion), although in the first two months of the year the surplus was maintained (ARS1,020.296 billion), with levels above the average of a 15-year cycle.
  • Total accrued expenditures represented 24.0% of the budget, which is an extension of the budget in force during 2023.
THE OPC PRESENTED THE LATEST BUDGET EXECUTION REPORT TO LEGISLATORS

THE OPC PRESENTED THE LATEST BUDGET EXECUTION REPORT TO LEGISLATORS

The Argentine Congressional Budget Office presented the latest published report on the Analysis of the National Government Budget Execution – January 2024 to national legislators and their advisors.

This is one of the periodic works conducted by the OPC with the purpose of monitoring revenues collected and expenditures accrued.

The presentation was given by the OPC Director, Gabriel Esterelles, together with the directors of Sustainability and Public Debt Analysis, Joel Vaisman; of Fiscal and Tax Analysis, Martín López Amorós; of Budget Analysis, Ignacio Lohle, and the analyst of this last directorate, María Laura Cafarelli.

The purpose of the online meeting was to provide members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, as well as their assistants, with technical elements to improve the understanding of the monthly report disseminated through the OPC web page, offering, at the same time, the possibility of clarifying doubts about the methodology used and the results obtained.

The good reception of this new work modality was the basis for the decision to repeat it periodically to consolidate the technical dialogue between the OPC and the National Congress.

ANALYSIS OF BILL “BASES AND STARTING POINTS FOR THE FREEDOM OF ARGENTINES” – REPORT 2 – PROMOTION OF REGISTERED EMPLOYMENT (SEC. 214-220)

ANALYSIS OF BILL “BASES AND STARTING POINTS FOR THE FREEDOM OF ARGENTINES” – REPORT 2 – PROMOTION OF REGISTERED EMPLOYMENT (SEC. 214-220)

With the purpose of promoting registered employment, these sections offer incentives to the employers that join the regime within 90 days after the implementation of the law, by forgiving them at least 70% of the amounts owed for lack of contributions to any legal subsystem, with the elimination of fines, legal actions and other penalties and the removal of labor law violations from the records.

  • The fiscal impact of the regularization regime depends on the number of employees that are formalized, a number that is still unknown.
  • There will be a cost for the Government in the short term and an eventual improvement in revenues for the Social Security System resulting from this formalization.
  • It is not possible to prepare a comprehensive estimate without precision on the number of workers to be formalized or the stock of debt for contributions due to deficient records.
  • In 2023, the contributions for each registered labor relationship amounted to approximately ARS1.92 million, of which ARS1.79 million were resources that remained in the public sector.
  • Last year, fines for Social Security infractions amounted to ARS1.813 billion, equivalent to 0.001% of the GDP.
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