In Guatemala, President Alejandro Giammattei decided to veto the reforms to the Contracting Law and announced that the bill will be returned to Congress with the respective observations.
According to Giammattei, the observations consist in the fact that the reforms to the Contracting Law should only apply to the purchases made by the Municipalities and not to the bids made by the institutions of the Executive.
In Guatemala, the Chambers of Industry, Construction, Commerce and Agriculture agree that the reforms to the State Contracting Law constitute a step backwards in terms of transparency and open the door to greater opacity in public spending.
In April 2021, the deputies approved the amendments to Decree 57-92, which among other things allow for an increase in the amounts of direct and low value purchases.
Arguing that the reforms to the Contracting Law constitute a step backwards in terms of transparency, the Guatemalan business sector is asking President Alejandro Giammattei to veto what was approved by the Congress of the Republic.
In the last days of April 2021 the Guatemalan deputies approved the modifications to Decree 57-92, which among other things allow for the expansion of the amounts of direct and low value purchases.
Because the current legal framework is ineffective, Guatemalan entrepreneurs in the food sector are asking the government to draft a new law that would criminalize smuggling and also consider it a matter of national security.
Directives of the Guatemalan Chamber of Food and Beverages (CGAB) assure that the current Decree 58-90 "Law Against Fraud and Contraband" is obsolete and does not allow for direct and frontal combat against contraband.
Last December 2, the new Credit Card Law proposal received a favorable opinion from the Economy Commission of the Guatemalan Congress, and now it should be discussed in the plenary session.
In Guatemala, Congress is discussing a bill that seeks to increase the arrival of flights to the country through tax incentives for airlines, which would be coupled with the elimination of improper tax charges.
On August 14, 2019, the President of the Legislative Branch, Álvaro Arzú Escobar, presented to Congress initiative 5585, which has the support of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) and the Guatemalan Association of Air Lines (AGLA). See full bill.
After the Constitutional Court temporarily suspended the legal framework regulating part-time work in Guatemala, a new proposal advances in Congress.
This is bill 5477 has received a favorable opinion from the Labor Commission of the Congress of the Republic and is pending discussion in the plenary of deputies.
Implementing a mixed system of interest rates composed of a fixed one with a contract for a determined time and another variable agreed between the account holder and the issuer, is one of the proposals that are discussed in the Congress of Guatemala.
The proposal for two interest rates was presented by the Instituto de Investigación y Proyección sobre Economía y Sociedad Plural (Idies), before the Congressional Economic Commission, in charge of discussing the proposals for changes to Credit Card Law 5544.
The reforms to the State Contracting Law under discussion in Guatemala establish five criteria for the Government to terminate the contract with a company in advance.
The proposal is currently under discussion in the Public Finance and Currency Commission of the Congress of the Republic, and among its main objectives is to solve the problems arising from litigation between contractors and state entities, because of issues related to unfinished works.
Two years after having been presented at the Guatemalan Congress, the initiative to reform the Free Zones Law is still awaiting approval.
In 2016, initiative 5174 was presented to the Congress of the Republic, and has been debated in speeches made by deputies and in meetings of the Economic Cabinet of the Executive Power, none of which have resulted in its approval.
After making more than 40 amendments to the previous project, the legislative commission will be presenting a proposal and expects the process to move forward without further modifications.
The Economy Commission of the Congress of the Republic reported that they presented a second opinion on the Competition Law initiative, and took the opportunity to explain that among the parties that participated in the work room, they agreed that the topic will be addressed in a single reading and no last minute amendments will be presented.