The agile execution of economic stimulus programs, the considerable increase in public debt and the need to accelerate the process of economic reactivation are the lights, shadows and challenges identified a year after Alejandro Giammattei took office as president of Guatemala.
At the height of the pandemic and economic crisis, the Costa Rican president announced, on a national chain, an economic recovery plan with no clear direction, no assigned leaders and no concrete actions.
In the message broadcast on the night of July 12, President Carlos Alvarado vaguely explained part of the plan to be adopted to overcome the health and economic crisis generated by the spread of covid-19.
In Guatemala, a legislative project prohibiting cuts in water, electricity, cable TV, telephone and Internet services during the state of calamity, which was decreed by the outbreak of covid-19 in the country, was published.
After multiple struggles, Decree 15-2020 was published on May 21 in the Diario de Centroamérica, which was approved by the deputies and then vetoed by President Alejandro Giammattei.
Although the President of El Salvador seeks to maintain absolute quarantine, the Legislative Assembly of that country approved a law that establishes the measures that will be applied to gradually resume labor and economic activity, in both the public and private sectors.
The approval of this legal framework, which establishes four phases for the reactivation of the economy, takes place in the context of strong tensions between the Executive and the Legislative, who have had different criteria regarding the home quarantine, to which the population was subjected due to the outbreak of covid-19.
By presidential decree and in order to mitigate the outbreak of covid-19 in the country, from May 14 at 6 pm until May 18 at 5 am, there is total restriction of movement and closure of all commercial establishments.
The measures to restrict movement include the heavy transport of fuel and its derivatives, and the operation of the banking system is prevented, reported President Alejandro Giammattei on the night of May 14.
The Salvadoran business sector is calling for a reversal of the more rigid restriction measures implemented by the Bukele administration since May 7, arguing that the ban on public transport units has generated chaos.
The government decided to extend the travel restrictions until April 27, but now the ban on people and vehicles applies only between 6 p.m. and 4 a.m. the next day.
Supermarkets, grocery stores and corner shops will be able to adjust to the new restricted hours, that is, from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m., as long as they ensure that their workers are in their residences before 6 p.m., President Alejandro Giammattei reported on a national channel.
In order to redirect public resources due to the covid-19 outbreak, the government decided that investment projects that have not started to be implemented and those that are at an advanced stage will be suspended.
A letter signed by the Minister of Finance, Nelson Fuentes, and sent to the heads of state institutions, explains that the programs and projects contained in the Budget and Annual Public Investment Program Law (PAIP) are suspended.
The government decided to extend for two more weeks the measures restricting freedom of movement, which includes the transit and movement of persons, crew, passengers and vehicles, between 4 pm and 5 am.
The restriction measures were decreed with the aim of containing the spread of covid-19, and the text detailing the government's provisions was published in the March 29 edition of Diario de Centro América.
In contrast to the measures taken by some neighboring countries, the government reported that at the local level, charges for water, electricity, Internet and telephone services will not be suspended.
Authorities argued that at the moment it is not possible to postpone payments, as few basic services are provided by the government in the country.
Ebal Diaz, Secretary of State, told Laprensa.hn that "...
In order to prevent the spread of covid-19, the government ordered an 8-day limit on freedom of movement in the country, which includes the transit and movement of persons, crew, passengers and vehicles, between 4 p.m. and 4 a.m. the following day.
The restriction will be in force from Sunday, March 22nd, until Sunday, March 29th. If the measure needs to be extended, the Guatemalan government will be informed by presidential order, reported the government.
Without clarifying which companies or individuals could apply the measure, the Bukele administration announced a three-month exemption from payment of mortgage loans, services such as water, electricity, Internet, cable and telephone.
These measures may be applied by all those "... natural and legal persons, which are directly affected by the covid-19 pandemic and government institutions must ensure that in their implementation there is no abuse or exploitation". As a result of this announcement, uncertainty has arisen as it is not clear how those "directly affected" will be determined.
In Guatemala, the Executive Branch presented a proposal to the Congress to expand the public budget by nearly $940 million, resources that would be used to recover the economy in the face of the unemployment that will be caused by the spread of the covid-19.
The authorities' plan is to save between 20% and 25% in order to allocate these funds to investment in strategic infrastructure such as ports, airports, the subway and viable projects such as the construction of the Transversal del Sur (TVS), a 110-kilometer stretch that would connect the port of Champerico, Retalhuleu, with Puerto Quetzal, on the coastal strip.
Nicaraguan businessmen believe that electoral reform is essential to reactivate the country's economic activity, which has been in decline since the crisis erupted in 2018.
According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nicaragua's Gross Domestic Product contracted by 5.7% in 2019, a drop that complements the year-on-year variation of -3.8% recorded in 2018.
Alejandro Giammattei, Guatemala's new president, is hosting a country with weak institutions, legal uncertainty and a business sector that is asking for a less "hostile" environment for new investments.