Reaching a fiscal balance

Government spending ($17.8 billion in 2018) is divided into the following segments: Payroll ($6.5 billion or 36 percent of total expenditures), Debt Service ($5.6 billion or 31 percent), Electricity subsidies ($1.78 billion or ten percent), Construction ($700 million or four percent) and everything else ($3.2 billion or 18 percent).

The objective should be to incur a zero total deficit (not just primary deficit) in the coming years. This will be achieved by undertaking the following measures:

Increasing revenues by

• Ensuring fair collection and combating tax evasion• Raising indirect taxes• Securitizing