As delegates overcome presidential rejections of three funding decisions from the Nation 2020 budget, the process will spark controversy in the Constitutional Chamber.
Finance committee delegates agreed on Monday to overcome three vetoes by President Nayib Bukele on legislative acts approved by the Assembly, one to fund the increase in the minimum pension and for municipal development projects with loan funds earmarked for the pandemic pending ratification.
There were several agreements to be adopted in plenary this week with 56 MPs votes. Legislative Decree No. 803 regarding the $ 250 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) intends to exceed it, which contains $ 125 million to increase the minimum pension from $ 207 to $ 304 per month; and an additional $ 125 million for municipal development projects.
SEE: Nayib Bukele increases the minimum pension without raising funds
Bukele based his veto on the fact that the loan with the IDB was originally authorized to “support the efforts and actions of the government of the Republic to stem the health crisis caused by COVID-19 and the country’s economic recovery” despite the government having already used more than $ 1 billion of the $ 2 billion authorized by the Assembly to fight the pandemic.
But according to ARENA deputy Donato Vaquerano, the funds in the decrees gave “robustness to the budget” for 2021.
Today we are going to overcome those vetoes to remove them for the next plenary session, the House notice was also received with an opinion on the decree that gave her the opportunity to have money for the mayors and that the mistake He pointed out to the room and we are going to spend it next week, ”explained Vaquerano.
FMLN deputy Yanci Urbina said in the finance committee that Bukele’s right of veto is very “ill-founded”.
He added that there are indications that the file mentions that the destination was being investigated on the grounds that the funds not allocated to finance the pandemic care were being diverted to the implementation of the 2021 budget.
Also read: Bukele sends a veto at the last minute to increase the minimum pension
“That was an initiative that was raised, we brought it up for an important reason that it is not possible to continue with this process of discretionary use or misuse of public funds,” said Urbina.
The delegates also agreed to overcome another veto Bukele had granted on another $ 50 million loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), to allocate funds for the purchase of the COVID vaccine. -19.