Despite growth of government’s income, the public deficit remained the same, because public expenditure grew at the same proportion, noted a report by the General Comptroller office.
In 2015, government’s income grew by 0.53 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, about 150,000 million colones. However, public expenditure rose 0.49 percent of GDP.
Marta Acosta, the general comptroller, said raising taxes won’t be enough to balance the fiscal deficit. She presented the report to the legislature.
Acosta said the Comptroller rejected the 2015 national budget, because the government breached the law by funding recurring expenses with debt.
In 2015, recurring expenses increased debt to 4 percent of GDP, or about 1.1 billion colones ($2.02 million).
The Comptroller office also estimates that evasion of income and sales taxes reached 5 percent, and recommends reforming tax laws to bring criminal penalties against those who evade paying taxes.
Source: La Nación.