This evening, the Head of State went to Congress to present the budget with a focus on fiscal balance. “It is not just another law,” said Mileisince its cornerstone “is zero deficit” to curb the “compulsive spending” of governments.
“Today we are here to present a national budget that will change the history of our country, so that we can once again become the great Argentina we once were. Today we come here to put a stop to the State“, he stressed and added: “This budget ensures fiscal balance, regardless of the economic scenario. Regardless of what happens at the macro level, the fiscal result will be balanced.”
Budget 2025: Government insists on auditing national universities
In this sense, in order to control spending, the Government requested through the 2025 Budget to be able to audit the sending of funds to national universitiesa power that currently falls to the General Audit Office of the Nation (AGN), subject to approval by Congress.
Article 17 establishes as credit to “finance the operating expenses, investment and special programs of national universities the sum of THREE BILLION EIGHT HUNDRED FOUR THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED SIXTY MILLION FOUR HUNDRED EIGHT THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED SIX PESOS ($3,804,260,408,806)according to the details of the Annex to this article.”
The project then indicates that the Houses of Higher Studies “They must submit to the Undersecretariat of University Policies, dependent on the Secretariat of Education of the MINISTRY OF HUMAN CAPITAL, the necessary information to assign, execute and evaluate the resources transferred to them for any purpose.”
He then proposes that the ministry led by Sandra Pettovello “may interrupt the transfer of funds in the event of failure to send such information in a timely manner.”
It also states that each university must indicate for each fiscal year “the functional classification of Education and Culture; Health and Science, Technology and Innovation. The budget and accounting execution, as well as the investment account, must also consider the functional classifier.” And, regarding the teaching and non-teaching staff to which the salary increases will be applied in 2025, it clarifies that “they will be those in force at the settlements corresponding to the month of November 2024,” except for the increases in the plants approved and authorized by the Undersecretariat of University Policies.
How national universities are audited
Currently, the audits of the national universities are the power of the own authorities of educational establishments and the AGN. This was confirmed months ago by its owner Juan Manuel Olmoswho warned that the Congress It is the entity in charge of requesting the audits at universities.
In April, in the midst of a conflict with university sectors protesting against budget cuts, the Executive Branch stressed that the objective is focused on being able to audit educational institutions: “Public education is a right. Auditing is an obligation,” it said. Alejandro Álvarez, Undersecretary of University Policies of the Nationin line with the intentions of President Javier Milei.
According to Law No. 24,521 on Higher Education, Internal audits are carried out by each institution which, in turn, in certain cases, transfer the details of their accounts to the General Audit Office of the Nation (AGN), a single-person body dependent on the Superior Council, which reports to Congress.
Source: Ambito
