Latin American Economy & Business - October 2018

The government submitted a request to the National Assembly in late September to modify fiscal responsibility legislation in order to allow a US$300m increase in spending. A commission from the finance ministry gave its initial approval on 1 October, but debate has continued in the legislature on the issue. If the bill is approved by the National Assembly, the fiscal deficit ceiling will rise to 2% of GDP this year, significantly above the legally-mandated ceiling of 0.5% under the current fiscal responsibility legislation.