Total revenue between January and June was $5,578.3 million, up $404.8 million, or 7.8 percent, from the same period last year, according to reports from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
Despite the increase, public accounts ended the first half of the year with a deficit of $1,919.9 million as spending was much higher, according to the MEF’s June balance sheet.
Specifically, total spending for the first half was $7,498.2 million, up $82.1 million, or 1.1 percent, from a year earlier.
Economist Luis Alberto Morán told La Prensa newspaper that most of the spending is used for government operations and current spending, limiting the ability to invest in infrastructure that meets the basic needs of the population.
Analyst Olmedo Estrada also said that the surge in spending over revenue is driving an increase in the national debt and related interest expense, which totaled $5,821.3 million in six months, up 132.7 million compared to the same period million dollars, or 2.3 percent higher in 2021.
So far, Estrada has had no direct interest in reducing operating costs.
For the full year, the budget deficit limit under the Social Fiscal Responsibility Law is 4.0 percent of gross domestic product, requiring a reduction from the 6.7 percent it finished at in 2021.
According to the scientists, although a large part of the income is collected in particular for the contributions of the Panama Canal in the last part of the year, the government must also expect additional expenses for the commitments made at the single table of dialogue with social organizations began on July 21 in the province of Coclé.
In this regard, they claim to attack corruption and a more dynamic strategy to attract investment, generate more income and reduce dependence on government debt.
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