As Ámbito advanced, President Javier Milei gave full control of the trust funds to the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo. The decision that was formalized through the Official Gazette was already made before the President called the governors to the “May 25 Pact.”
Through the Decree 215/2024Milei designated the Ministry of Economy “as trustor on behalf of the NATIONAL STATE, in all trust funds integrated wholly or partially with assets and/or funds of the NATIONAL STATE, exercising in that capacity the direction and conduct of said trust funds”.
“In cases in which the H. CONGRESS OF THE NATION has designated as trustor an organization or specific department different from the MINISTRY OF ECONOMY, or a plural integration committee, prior to the issuance of any instruction to the trustee, the trustee must issue an opinion. the aforementioned Ministry”, was added in article 2 of the decision published today in the Official bulletin.
The Ministry of Economy, with the assistance of the General Audit Office of the Nation, “or by hiring external independent consultants with recognized track record and experience, in the terms of current legislation, “must carry out – within a period of 60 days from the date of entry into force of this measure – a comprehensive management audit of the trust funds integrated wholly or partially with assets and/or funds of the National State.”.
Caputo may extend this term “for another similar one and for the only time.”
In the decree, which bears the signature of Milei and the Chief of Staff, Nicolás Posse, it was announced that Economía will carry out, when appropriate, the contractual adjustments that are necessary in order to comply with the provisions.
“The organizations and departments with primary responsibility for the matters involved in each of the trust funds subject to this measure must provide collaboration and assistance to the Ministry of Economy, for the purposes of better compliance with the provisions and purposes of this decree,” indicated the Government.
Trust funds: why their control was transferred to Caputo’s orbit
In the recitals, the Executive Branch emphasized “efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public resources” and mentioned a report requested from SIGEN on trust funds in which it was reported that “the non-existence or outdated administrative procedures have been observed that define the operating procedures of each trust fund; the general policies to be addressed; the mechanisms for the formalization of files and documentation supporting decisions; responsibilities for monitoring and controlling beneficiaries; information systems on the status of execution and progress of works, among others.”
“From the same Report arises the absence or lack of integrity and systematization of supporting documentation for funding granting processeswhich makes it difficult to guarantee the transparency and traceability of the actions and, therefore, the control and oversight tasks over the allocation of resources,” the Government argued and added: “The inaction and/or delay in the activities has been verified. recovery and management of delinquencies or bad debts due to non-compliance by beneficiaries, as well as weaknesses in the purchasing and contracting process, lack of follow-up and unjustified delays.
What are trust funds?
It is the name given to trust contracts when the figure is used by the State, at any of its levels (national, provincial, municipal), for a specific and delimited objective, related to satisfying a demand of public interest. .
In the case of public funds, it is the State that delegates the administration of funds to an entity (which is usually a public bank, usually Banco Nación or Banco de Inversión y Comercio Exterior -BICE-) to manage them based on certain public policysuch as the granting of a subsidy or the completion of a work.
Trusts have different sources of financing: they can be made up of contributions from the National Treasury, the collection of a tax specifically created for this purpose, the collection of fines or the result of investments of the funds themselves (as in the case of Procrear, which is financed from investments from the ANSES Sustainability Guarantee Fund).
Source: Ambito
