LatinNews Daily - 27 April 2020

* The director of economic benefits at Paraguay’s social security institute (IPS), Pedro Halley, has reported that IPS’s revenues have fallen by between 20% and 30% due to the strict quarantine imposed by the government to slow the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19). Halley said that the quarantine imposed in early March has led firms to lay off some 75,000 formal workers, cancelling their contributions to the IPS. On the back of this, IPS revenues fell by 10% month-on-month in March (equivalent to some US$10m). Halley expects that revenues will fall by a further 10-20 percentage points, or up to US$20m, in April. Noting that IPS continues to provide healthcare services to its beneficiaries and unemployment subsidies to those that have lost their jobs during the quarantine, Halley warned that the fall in revenues is hurting the indebted institute’s finances - and he did not rule out the possibility of resorting to external financing to reinforce IPS’s financial position. 

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