"Despite having a difficult situation, we did not dedicate ourselves to complaining or blaming the previous government for the situation we started with; we dedicated ourselves to working, to governing. " With these words, the former Minister of Finance of Boric, Mario Marcel, reflected on the criticisms that have arisen from the current government of President Kast regarding the state of the fiscal accounts inherited from the administration of former President Gabriel Boric. This Friday, the former Secretary of State defended the economic management of his period at the helm of the fiscal wallet and highlighted the adjustment made at the beginning of the mandate.
"Of the four years of government, 2022 saw the largest fiscal adjustment we have historically had. It was the largest fiscal adjustment in the world, starting from a situation that was much more complex than today," he stated. Despite defending the economic management of the previous government, Mario Marcel also acknowledged that there were aspects that did not materialize as planned.
For the former minister, there are two events from his period that he particularly regrets. One of them was the failure to meet the fiscal target for 2024, a situation that has been mentioned by the current Executive to question the management of public finances. "There are two things that hurt me a lot during the period I was minister: one was the rejection of the tax reform and the other was the failure to meet the fiscal target in 2024," he said on Radio Duna.
"Having created the fiscal rule, I don't like that it is not met," he pointed out. Marcel explained that the economic scenario presented unusual conditions for fiscal management. He detailed that during his management, an unprecedented situation occurred in decades.
"It was the first time in over 30 years that domestic demand and revenue from non-mining income tax went in opposite dir…
"If we look at all presidential periods, we will not find any in which spending grew so little," he affirmed. In that vein, he added that Boric's government was "the only administration that ended with a level of spending lower than the last year of the previous government. " MEPCO and discussion on the CAE Regarding the current situation of the Fuel Price Stabilization Mechanism (MEPCO) being evaluated by the Government, Mario Marcel recalled the decisions made by the Executive during his management in the face of fiscal pressures.
"We resolved by allowing the Mepco to function, and even so, spending was cut by 23%," he indicated. Finally, he addressed the discussion on the forgiveness of the State-Guaranteed Credit (CAE), acknowledging that the initial proposal contained in the government program had to be modified. "What was proposed in the government program was not viable; it ended up in a different project," he concluded.