The management of Omar Gutiérrez in Neuquén closed the first half of 2023 with a deficit of almost 20,000 million pesos in its financial result, an imbalance that was not foreseen when the budget was presented in October of last year. Three months after sending the forecast for 2024 to the Legislature, the government once again finds itself with a macroeconomic instability scenario and an interannual inflation that almost doubles that which had been calculated for this year.
According to information released by the Ministry of Economy, the province closed the first six months of 2023 with total income of 485,304 million pesos and expenses of 505,279 million. That is, the financial result showed a deficit of 19,975 million pesos.
The main red was generated in the difference between income and capital expenditures, given that the economic result was positive.
Los current resourcesincluding those from tax collection, national co-participation and the collection of hydrocarbon royalties totaled 368,015 million in the semester and had a year-on-year increase of 132%.
The percentage was above 127% which represented the increase in current expenseswhere the main weight fell, as usual, on the staff plant. For this concept, in the first six months of the year 115,138 million pesosthe equivalent of 55% of current expenses that closed at 208,558 million.
The one destined to the payment of salaries is an outlay that the government cannot regulate, since it committed to the state unions to grant increases tied to inflation on a monthly and bimonthly basis automatically. That is to say, has no room to delay or negotiate increases as is the case with other administrations that are maneuvering based on the income they receive.
In any case, current resources were 15,542 million euros above current expenses, even counting the deficit that the ISSN showed, higher than 16,000 million in the first half of the year.
The main discrepancy in the scheme that the government disseminated occurred between the capital expenditures, which reached 39,019 million between public works, transfers and financial investment (debt repayment)and capital income that barely exceeded 3,501 million pesos.
Much of the red of the semester was covered by the placement of Treasury bills and an increase in floating debt.
There are debt maturities for 63 million dollars
The provincial government will have to face from this month until the end of the year something more than 63 million dollars for the amortization and payment of interest on its international loans and bonds.
August and November will be the months with the busiest servicebecause almost 20 million dollars will be canceled in both: they include the monthly principal payment for the loan with Credit Suisse but, in addition, the quarterly installment of the Ticade, one of the two titles placed by the management of Omar Gutiérrez.
In October, the payments will be for a somewhat smaller amount, 16.5 million dollars, while in September and December they will be 4 million. Total, This year, 138 million dollars will be allocated to the payment of the international debt. In 2024 the number will grow to 188.6 million.