by The Foundation for the Development of Guatemala (FUNDESA) developed the Forum called Economic Outlook 2022-2023, in which the Minister of Public Finance Álvaro González Ricci, the President of the Bank of Guatemala, Sergio Recinos and the Regional Manager for Central America of the IFC, Sanaa Abouzaid, participated.The Minister of Public Finance highlighted that the Government of President Alejandro Giammattei implemented social programs where 13 million people were served due to the COVID-19 emergency, actions that strengthened the country’s economy; however, he stressed that private sector confidence has been essential for Guatemala’s economic recovery.
He also explained that the country registered an economic growth of 8.1% in 2022, this after having had a decrease of 1.5% in 2020, derived from the pandemic caused by COVID-19. “We are in an excellent position, but now our challenge is how we bring those good achievements from macroeconomics to microeconomics,” the International Commission against Impunity stressed in Guatemala (CICIG).In his presentation he detailed the macroeconomic situation of the country, where he indicated that in 2021 a Tax Burden of 11.7% was obtained and stressed that there is a Controlled Inflation of 4.17% as of March of this year, added to a debt versus GDP of 30.8%. the lowest in the region.
The Minister of Public Finance, Alvaro González Ricci, mentioned that the rating agency Fitch Ratings, as did Standard & Poor’s, improved Guatemala’s outlook from stable to positive, which he said shows that it is on the right track to generate more investments that provide development and employment in the country.
Investment rates
Juan Carlos Paiz, president of FUNDESA indicated that to improve investment rates it is necessary to increase the country’s tax revenues, so he recognized the progress of the SAT in increasing digitalization for tax payments and the excellent news of last week, on the signing of the customs agreement between Guatemala and the United States to strengthen assistance and cooperation between both aduanas.
