Venezuela's FY2013 budget below that of 2009

During the presentation of the national budget for fiscal year 2013, Finance Minister Jorge Giordani stressed that next year the regions would be receiving more funds than in 2012. However, official data shows that the FY2013 budget will be actually below that in 2008-2009.

Next year, states and communities will be receiving some USD 18.3 billion. However, they received USD 19.4 billion in 2008 and USD 20.5 billion in 2009. In other words, the FY2013 budget will be 10% lower.

According to analysts, when the Executive Office drafts the corresponding fiscal year budget using sensible macroeconomic premises, it ends up financially lashing the regions, which do not benefit from all fiscal revenue.

Impact

In addition to traditional variables, legal reforms and the incorporation of a parallel spending structure have undermined the accounts of the states.

For instance, changes in the distribution of windfall oil revenues are one of the legal reforms causing a great impact. Such reform aims at allocating more resources to the National Development Fund, a mechanism created to finance different government projects.

Translated by Jhean Cabrera