The Ministry of Economy will be in charge of setting the average price list of the products of the basic basket that will be in force in the country.
Article 3 of the decree approved by the Congress of the Republic explains that "... the Ministry of the Economy will set the average price list as of March 15, 2020, for each of the 34 products that make up the Basic Food Basket in its different forms of presentation, unit, pound, quintal, etc."
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.
Warnings are being issued of a possible rise in the cost of credit if the government finances its spending with bonds issued in the local market.
Elperiodico.com.gt reports: "If Congress authorizes for the next fiscal period the issuance of $1.282 billion in bonds to finance public spending, as the executive branch plans, credit to the private sector could be affected ... ".
The struggle between political parties paralyzes Congress which is not approving the legislation necessary to keep the economy competitive.
According to the Foundation for the Development of Guatemala (Fundesa), if you want to improve competitiveness, job creation and economic growth, a series of initiatives which have been stalled in Congress since January must be passed, including the law to create a national system to regulate competition and temporary work.
Those countries who have not ratified the Association Agreement with the European Union are at risk of losing markets compared to other Central American nations.
In an interview in Siglo21.com.gt by Celso Solano, with the ambassador to the European Union in Guatemala, Stella Zervoudaki, the official explained that there will not be any sanctions if Guatemala fails to ratify the agreement on or before May 15, but the country faces other threats.
If Congress does not approve loans which enable funding of the state budget, the crisis could be severe.
Roberto Villate, head of the Lider back bench group, said that as a block, they do not support the loan approval because from the beginning they did not agree to an underfunded budget and one without any programatic basis. The official said that with each loan "the country takes one more step in the direction of Greece or Cyprus".
Experts agree Alvaro Colom’s successor will face a difficult fiscal, economic and political situation.
First, it will be difficult to achieve the tax reform needed to tackle the decline in tax revenues which is set to continue into 2012. Ricardo Barrientos, Central Institute for Fiscal Studies (ICEFI in Spanish), also said that the losing candidate in the election will become the main opposition, and will complicate any reform attempts or approval of additional financing for the state.
After four failed attempts in Congress, the Government will resume the subject next year.
Rolando Del Cid Pinillos, Finance Minister, said that this time, the government will not make a large public consultation, but will negotiate with all productive sectors on a case-to-case basis.
"We need to study tax breaks, because there are some that are no longer useful and may disappear, we are checking thoroughly to remove these privileges," the minister told Sigloxxi.com,"... the government is in disposition of giving in order to get."
Congress approved a $ 210 million bond issuance with the purpose of rebuilding the country.
Recent natural disasters which have hit the country left damages for more than $ 1,500 million.
"The decision was adopted with 110 votes from a quorum of 133. Decree 53-2010 was approved with 4 amendments and stipulates that if the resources are not used this year, they may be included in the 2011 budget," wrote Kenia Reyes from Elperiodico.com.gt.
The Monetary Board approved the issuance of $ 673 million in securities to finance the 2011 budget.
The approval was unanimous, this time with the support of the private bank sector.
"Tulio García, representative of the private sector at the WB, said that opposing the decision of the board was a lost cause, so they opted to seek the Government's commitment for the fiscal 2011 deficit not to exceed 2.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and wait for the year to end between 3.1 to 3.4 percent of GDP," writes Lorena Alvarez from Elperiodico.com.gt.
The Monetary Board (JM) authorized the issuance of $ 210 million in treasury bonds by the Ministry of Finance.
If approved by Congress, the Government's deficit this year would reach 3.4% of GDP.
Elperiodico.com.gt reports, "Julio Suarez, vice president of Banguat, announced that JM endorsed his opinion of an increase in public debt, although representatives of the private banking and corporate sectors opposed it."
The Ministry for the Economy announced that it will speed up the competition bill that has been in Congress since 2008.
Guatemala is the only country in Latin America without legislation preventing monopolistic practices.
Erick Coyoy, Economy Minister, told Elperiodico.com.gt that, “the association agreement between Central America and the EU sets out that Guatemala must introduce a Competition Law within three years and standardize the legislation with other countries in the isthmus within six".
The Finance Commission of the Legislative approved to issue the bonds and increased them to $874 million.
Originally, the Executive had proposed to issue debt for 4500 million quintals ($562 million), but this figure was increased by the Finance Commission.
The project was conceived to fund the State’s budget, and will now be discussed by Congress.
Guatemala's Congress has 44 laws pending in economic and financial matters, which are key for improvement of the economy.
Modifications to the Acquisitions Law and the state purchasing process, a new municipal tax code, rules for regulating insurance activity and a law proposal for mega projects are some of the laws pending approval.
From Prensa Libre's website: "The process for establishing priority projects will be carried out next Wednesday by the Economy Comission".