He National Public Sector (SPN) registered in May a financial surplus of $1.18 billion and a primary one of $2.3 billion, according to information from the Ministry of Economy.
“In the first 5 months of the year, the SPN accumulates a primary surplus greater than 1% of GDP and a financial surplus of 0.4% of GDP,” explained the Treasury Palace.
The Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, pointed out that “the fiscal anchor is strengthened month by month and consolidates the disinflation process” by highlighting the result obtained in May. It is worth remembering that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been asking the Government to improve the quality and sustainability of the adjustment, in the same way that private consultants raise doubts about the continuity of the process.
The result for May, which recovers the performance of the accounts compared to April, It is explained in the extraordinary result of last month’s Income Tax collection. Then, the companies began to pay the final balance of the period 2023, which was influenced by the December devaluation. Companies with dollarized assets had extraordinary capital gains.
Official information also shows that “In the first five months of the year, primary spending accumulates a reduction of 31% in real terms.”
“The The items that recorded the greatest decreases are Capital Expenditure (83% year-on-year), Discretionary Current Transfers to Provinces (75%) and Rest of Current Expenditure (47%), which includes other expenditures such as transfers to cover the deficit from public companies. These three items alone explained a third of the real reduction in primary expenditures in the period,” said Economía.
Official data show that in May “the primary expenses of the National Public Sector reached $6.87 billion with an increase of 168.5% year-on-year.” On the other hand, it is pointed out that “The resources allocated to the Universal Allocation for Social Protection increased 11.5% in real terms between January and May, reflecting, together with the Alimentar Card and the First 1,000 Days program, the reinforcement of social programs that reach the most vulnerable population without intermediaries.”
Adjustment and increase in collection
“It is the first time since 2008 that 5 consecutive months of financial surplus have been achieved. This result was achieved without the fiscal chapter of the Base Law having been approved in the period considered, and reaffirms the Government’s commitment to financial balance in 2024,” states the Treasury Palace.
Not all of May’s results were due to spending adjustments. Last month there was an increase in tax collection of 10% real year-on-year. It is explained that In May 2023, the Income Tax of companies had collected $296,672 million while this year it was $2.1 trillion, that is, $1.8 billion more. The nominal growth in collection was 674%.
Official information indicates that “the total income of the SPN in the month reached $9.2 billion (+298.2%), with tax collection that presented a growth of 314.1% year-on-year, mainly explained by the variation in the Tax on Profits, foreign trade and the COUNTRY Tax”.
The export duties grew 445% nominal annually, which contributed almost $742,000 million. To this must be added the COUNTRY Tax that registered an increase of $515,201 million, while among the taxes linked to internal economic activity it is worth mentioning the collection corresponding to VAT net of refunds ($952,842 million; +207.6%) and debits and credits (+$408,654 million; +187.3%)
Source: Ambito
