LatinNews Daily - 27 March 2020

* Uruguay’s President Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou has announced the creation of a ‘Coronavirus Fund’, made up of profits from state companies and contributions from the salaries of public officials and politicians. Public servants earning over Ur$80,000 (US$1,798) will take a pay cut over the next two months, with the possibility of the measure being extended if necessary. The fund will be used to cover the extra costs generated by the public health and economic emergencies resulting from the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, although Lacalle Pou stressed that the resources freed up by these salary cuts will not stretch to the full costs, noting that the measures already announced by his government total US$400m. “We are not cutting public officials’ and politicians’ salaries to save, but to spend”, the president said, noting that the measure was not “sympathetic” but “solidary”. Economy & Finance Minister Azucena Arbeleche is due to provide further information on the Coronavirus Fund today (27 March), with the expansion of access to basic food baskets and of family benefits due to be announced also. 

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