Opposition party Fuerza del Pueblo has criticized the Dominican Republic's proposed 2027 General State Budget in Santo Domingo, warning that it relies on excessive borrowing.
The organization stated that the draft law, which totals 2.08 trillion Dominican pesos, increases financial costs and lowers the quality of public spending while offering minimal benefits to citizens.
Haivanjoe Ng Cortiñas, an economist who heads the Secretariat of Economic Affairs for Fuerza del Pueblo, presented the findings during the release of an official analysis titled Six Times NO: A budget that goes into debt for everything, except for the people.
Ng Cortiñas stressed that the fundamental problem with the bill is not just the overall spending figure, but how those resources are financed and how much money actually reaches the population.
Fuerza del Pueblo is a major opposition political party in the Dominican Republic led by former president Leonel Fernández. The budget proposal was submitted by the central government and is currently undergoing legislative review in the National Congress in Santo Domingo, the nation's capital.
Dissecting Debt and Debt Service
According to the analysis shared by Ng Cortiñas, 398,228 million pesos of the proposed budget would be financed through internal and external credit lines.
Out of that borrowed total, debt interest and commissions account for 228,579 million pesos, while subsidies and Treasury obligations absorb 95,000 million pesos.
Ministerial projects and development programs receive 74,649 million pesos of the credit funds.
Ng Cortiñas explained that for every 100 pesos financed through bonds and loans, 81 pesos are spent on interest, subsidies, and Treasury obligations, leaving only 19 pesos for ministerial programs and projects.
The economist warned that debt for the Non-Financial Public Sector would increase from 46.2 percent to 46.8 percent of gross domestic product under the 2027 plan.
Interest payments alone are projected to rise from 22.5 percent to 23.3 percent of total government revenues, reaching 351,327 million pesos.
Fuerza del Pueblo noted that this interest figure represents 96 percent of the total budget allocated to the Ministry of Education.
Questioned Provisions and Fiscal Limits
Ng Cortiñas raised objections to two specific articles in the proposal that he said would allow the executive branch to expand public spending without returning to the National Congress.
Article 69 includes credit lines of 30,000 million pesos for electricity distribution companies, while Article 44 authorizes spending up to 0.5 percent of gross domestic product by decree to handle emergencies and calamities.
The party argued that the government will fail to comply with the fiscal rule set by Law 35-24 on Fiscal Responsibility in 2027.
Primary spending is projected to grow by 9.9 percent compared to the reformulated 2026 budget and by 14.5 percent compared to the initial 2026 budget, exceeding statutory limits in both cases.
Additionally, the project shows a negative current savings of 70,452 million pesos, meaning current government revenues will not cover current operational expenses.
Capital Investment and Social Spending
Addressing public investment, Ng Cortiñas pointed out that 91.7 percent of the planned increase in capital expenditure is dedicated to transfers for electricity distributors, the water sector, and public trust funds.
Direct state investment is scheduled to grow by only 3.4 percent, causing its share of total government spending to fall from 8.4 percent to 7.7 percent.
Funding for social functions would also drop, declining from 45.5 percent to 45.1 percent of overall spending.
Direct cash transfers to households are projected to contract from 4.1 percent to 3.6 percent of total expenditures.
Healthcare Allocations and Energy Subsidies
The Secretariat of Economic Affairs highlighted imbalances within the National Health Service budget structure.
Out of every 100 pesos allocated to the health service, 79.60 pesos go to personnel costs and 10.90 pesos to primary care, while only 2.20 pesos are spent on purchasing medicines.
Regarding energy costs, the budget bill sets aside 109,296 million pesos for electricity subsidies, which is more than double the 47,340 million pesos assigned to direct household transfers.
Those direct transfers fund social programs such as Aliméntate, Bono Gas, Bono Luz, and solidary pensions.
Ng Cortiñas advocated moving toward targeted electricity subsidies and using savings gained from reducing power losses to strengthen financial aid for vulnerable households.
Party Proposals and Political Funding
Fuerza del Pueblo outlined several key recommendations aimed at reforming government financial practices.
The party called for publishing the central government's complete object classification of spending, prioritizing borrowing for productive investment, and adhering strictly to the fiscal rule in 2027.
It also proposed establishing binding loss-reduction targets for electricity distributors, reallocating funds to buy primary care medicines, and indexing social benefit programs to inflation.
Ng Cortiñas stated that the party's central concern focuses on the quality of spending and where debt-funded resources are ultimately directed.
Finally, Fuerza del Pueblo criticized the budget draft for allocating 1,750.9 million pesos to political parties, noting that the amount is only half of the 3,498.7 million pesos mandated by Law 20-23.
The organization emphasized that this reduction comes at a time when political parties are scheduled to hold primary elections.
