The government is not getting out of debt and already has another one with contractors

It was difficult for the government to pay off most of the debt owed to its contractorsbut another one emerges that he will also have to face.

Carlos Allen, President of the Panama Chamber of Construction (Capac)reported that only in October the transfer of items in the parliamentary budget committee, which foresees the payment of the 300 million dollars owed to them, can be completed.

“At the moment, most of the accounts are with the Chief Comptroller of the Republic and they have been making payments, however some of them have yet to be cancelled“, reported the engineer.

Allen He explained that new debt has accumulated since Aprilwhose number is not available at this time.

“From April until today, there is a new debt that continues to accumulate. Let us remind you that government contractors invoice monthly and that debt was piling up month after month,” Allen said.

In the opinion of President Capac What the government lacks is financial planning in order to fulfill your obligations on time.

“The state must review the works in terms of importance and need. and it certainly has to make rehabilitation in order to be able to resolve the debt and obligations it has towards the contractors,’ he said.

The previous government inherited from the current government a debt with contractors and suppliers of more than 1.8 billion dollars.

This Government had to borrow in order to be able to meet the state’s obligations.

Although the Chamber of Commerce assures that the debt in 2022 was greater than 1.4 billion dollars, the executive power rejected that it was in that amount.

In 2020 and 2021, the government sought external loans to cover operating and business costs, giving it priority over public investment.

The odds are complicated, taking that into account There are elections next year and the Government is entering the last half of the year.

“It’s complicated. Especially in an election year, this situation becomes even more acute and Let’s hope that at least the debt coming from March can be paid this year“, confides the businessman.

Budget overview

As a party involved in operational costs that the Government must carry out, President Capac considers it prudent to revise the budget for 2024, which has not yet been approved.

“I do not believe that the state can solve its debt with this situation. There are paralyzed companies and sectors that obviously affect the state’s income.“, he stated.

He added that they hope that the Executive will reconsider i within the scope of the budget revision, it can include the necessary items to pay the old debt which is held with contractors.

According to the Chamber of Commerce, the debt owed by the state to all its suppliers amounted to 1.4 billion dollars at the end of last year.

Within that, there is one with banks regarding payment of preferential interest and which, according to unofficial figures, exceeds 600 million dollars.