Nicolas Perez - Oficina de Presupuesto del Congreso

ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET AMENDMENTS – MAY 2021

by Nicolas Perez | May 10, 2021 | Budget Amendments

The Budget Law passed by the National Congress is amended during the year in accordance with the delegation of powers arising from the regulations in force. Within this framework, it is important to analyze such amendments to provide updated data on the budgetary dynamics throughout the fiscal year.

To this end, these periodic reports focus on the analysis of budgetary amendments made by Administrative Decisions of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers (JGM) or by Necessity and Urgency Decrees (DNU).

ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL TAX REVENUE – APRIL 2021

by Nicolas Perez | May 7, 2021 | Tax Revenue

In April, national tax revenue totaled AR$817.88 billion, the highest increase since April 2003, with a real increase of 40.8% and a nominal increase of 105.5%.

The nominal exchange rate increase and the low base of comparison for last year -when the economic activity was restricted by the preventive and mandatory social isolation- partly explain this result.

Social Security resources grew in real terms for the first time since September 2020.

The most significant variations above inflation were those of Income Tax (36.4% YoY), VAT (35.7%), Wealth Tax (224.5% YoY) and co-participated taxes (154.4% YoY), in some cases because of regulatory amendments that expanded the tax base.

Tax revenue had a negative real increase since January 2020, a situation that was reversed in September 2020 steadily up to date.

PAIS Tax collection shrank again and accrued USD 2.17 billion since its creation.

#HablemosDePresupuesto: (Let’s Talk Budget): Workshop with civil society organizations

by Nicolas Perez | Apr 27, 2021 | Activities

Along with Directorio Legislativo (Legislative Directory) and with the support of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) we organized the workshop #HablemosDePresupuesto (Let’s Talk Budget).

The first meeting took place on Monday, April 26 and it was proposed to start a joint work path to co-create an Action Plan for the OPC, identify opportunities for improvement and continue strengthening relations between the OPC and Civil Society.

Using an interactive methodology, the meeting included comments, experiences, and ideas on three main topics:

New tools and dissemination strategies to improve the scope of the information prepared by the OPC
Training activities in fiscal matters
Gender-responsive budgeting

The meeting was attended by Marcos Makón, General Director of the OPC; Natalia Laria, Coordinator of Parliamentary and Institutional Relations of the OPC; and representatives of Fundación para el Desarrollo de Políticas Sustentables (FUNDEPS – Córdoba), Nuestra Mendoza (Mendoza), Andhes (Tucumán and Jujuy), Salta Transparente (Salta), Asociación Civil por la igualdad y la Justicia (ACIJ) Fundación Conocimiento Abierto, Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento (CIPPEC), Asociación Argentina de Presupuesto y Administración Financiera Pública (ASAP), Economía Femini(s)ta and Equipo Latinomericano de Justicia y Género (ELA).

The next workshop will be held on Monday, May 6, where concrete proposals will be developed based on the identified challenges.

FISCAL IMPACT OF CORPORATE INCOME TAX AMENDMENT BILL 0002-PE 2021

by Nicolas Perez | Apr 22, 2021 | Cost Estimates

This report analyzes the Corporate Income Tax amendment Bill and estimates the possible impact on public sector revenues.

The implementation of an increasing marginal tax rate scheme according to the income obtained in a fiscal year is expected, from the current rate of 25% to 30% for profits over AR$5 million, and 35% for profits over AR$20 million.

The scales are to be updated on an annual basis according to the accumulated variation of the Consumer Price Index prepared by INDEC.

According to OPC’s estimates, the fiscal impact of the income tax rate adjustment would be of AR$320.82 billion, which will be reflected in tax revenues as from May 2022.

ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET EXECUTION – MARCH 2021

by Nicolas Perez | Apr 16, 2021 | Budget Execution

Primary, economic, and financial deficits were reduced in the first quarter of the year compared to those recorded in the same period of 2020 because of a real improvement in revenue.

Excluding the profit transfers from the Central Bank to the Treasury last year, total revenues for the first three months grew 9.3% YoY above inflation, despite the fall in Social Security and property income.

Tax revenue totaled AR$987.15 billion, which implied an increase of 29.2% YoY, due to the positive variations in the collection of main taxes compared to the previous year.
Resources from Social Security totaled AR$448.93 billion, which implied a drop of 8.4% YoY, due both to lower taxable income and to the drop in the number of contributors.
Primary expenditures increased by 3.2% YoY, but with a very uneven performance depending on the items. Economic subsidies and capital expenditures grew by more than 100% YoY, while pensions and salaries contracted.
Capital expenditures grew 126.9% YoY and were mainly allocated to the development of social housing (AR$15.55 billion) and Agua y Saneamiento Argentino S.A. (AR$15.35 billion).
During the first quarter of 2021, expenditures related to the COVID-19 pandemic accrued approximately AR$58.03 billion, 3.6% of primary expenditures.
The initial approved budget increased by AR$47.9 billion, with the largest increase in COVID-19 vaccine logistics and distribution services.
Financial assistance for the construction of modular hospitals totaled AR$4.67 billion.
As of March 31, total expenditures totaled AR$1.71 trillion, equivalent to 20.3% of the current budget appropriation.
According to AFIP (Federal Administration of Public Revenues), collection of Solidarity Contribution, which is considered a non-tax revenue, totaled AR$6.06 billion in the first quarter.

PUBLIC DEBT OPERATIONS – MARCH 2021

by Nicolas Perez | Apr 15, 2021 | Public Debt Operations

The Treasury placed government securities for a total of AR$405.22 billion through three auctions, including a BONCER T2X1 swap which had an acceptance rate of 78%.
In mid-March, AR$71 billion were paid for the Notes held by various agencies of the national government.
The Treasury received net financing for $135 billion in Temporary Advances. Additionally, the maturity of a non-transferable bill held by the Central Bank (BCRA) for USD2.12 billion was refinanced through the issuance of a new bill.
On May 30, Argentina should make the final payments on the debt with the Paris Club for a total of approximately USD2.38 billion in principal and interest.