(QCOSTARICA) The Minister of Finance (Ministro de Hacienda), Helio Fallas, in an interview with Elfinancierocr.com (EF), said “I drop my head in shame with the financial institutions and international rating services.”
Fallas was referring to the most recent warning by JP Morgan, the largest bank in the U.S., for Costa Rica bonds.
Given that the current Legislative body is against approving an increase in taxes, the EF says it decided to interview Finance officials to learn of their “Plan B” to cover government spending in 2016.
The answer they got reveals the government has no alternative to tax reform.
In addition, there appears to be no defined strategy to convince legislators and the country about the urgency of the President Luis Guillermo Solis administration to have a plan for fresh revenue, which is contrast to the pressure being exerted by the financial institutions in the country and the international rating agencies.
Cannot see how a government can believe that the way to achieve a balanced budget is to tax the people even more and still not provide any more service. I do know that when my credit card reaches that full mark, I simply stop spending and work on arranging the payments more efficiently. Since I am at the age past retirement, it is impossible to demand more retirement pay to cover the added expenses, so I must cut my spending to sustain my living.
From what I read of the current system of taxes here, the real solution is not to add more tax, but work more efficiently to collect the already due tax and cut expenses of the unnecessary items same as it works in the private sector. Giving a government a credit card without a limit is a dangerous thing for any economy. Accountability is foremost on the important list.
I see high schools that are running the risk of being closed due to lack of funds for maintenance, .roads that should be closed for the same reason, people that go hungry because there are no jobs. All the while I hear of government officials wanting more salary to do what?
It is the same anywhere in the world, the larger the government, the more the working people suffer.