State budget supports key social guarantees, Cuban finance and prices minister asserts

HAVANA, Cuba, February 10 (ACN) In his appearance on Mesa Redonda program, Vladimir Regueiro Ale, Cuban Minister of Finance and Prices, reported on the actions the country is taking in this area to confront the aggressive escalation of US aggression against Cuba, especially in the energy sector.

He referred to the importance of the support provided by the State Budget as a guarantee of essential activities and in response to its profoundly humanist role, ensuring free education, health, security, and social assistance, as well as development programs in culture, sports, and other sectors, which the country will not abandon even in these difficult circumstances.

In explaining how the government's decisions continue to be protected through the budget, prioritizing the guarantee of social services for our people, he cited a series of actions that have been adopted to ensure the enjoyment of everyone's right to universal and free access to education, public health, social security, and the social assistance provided to vulnerable populations requiring special attention.

"This requires a concerted effort, starting with strengthening all control mechanisms, which is a collective responsibility.

It's not just an exercise carried out by the Ministry of Finance and Prices, or by any agency of the Central State Administration, but rather, in every budgeted unit, in every government, there is this responsibility to make more rational and efficient use of the allocated budget," the Minister emphasized.

He reaffirmed the need to reorganize spending items, but clarified that the redesign of activity levels does not imply any impact on essential services for all our people, and the vitality of the social sector is maintained.

This is also achieved through a call for greater rationality, more savings, and the postponement of non-essential disbursements at this time, as well as strengthening budget controls in every entity and local government.

He pointed out that similarly, some of the financing can be redirected to essential productive activities, and the use of funds allocated, for example, for agricultural development, plays a fundamental role in this, with priority given to producers in the food sector.

"In other words, the budget is a guarantee, but it is also a tool that the State, the government, has to manage the economy, and we are supporting the country's resilience for the well-being of our population," he argued. Regueiro Ale emphasized that to sustain social spending, it is necessary to increase budget revenues, with a strong appeal to tax discipline and the payment of taxes as an expression of participation and social solidarity. Regarding revenue collection, significant growth is projected for this year, which is expected to support the current level of social spending, representing 66% of the budget.

He emphasized that there is a commitment to a partial increase in pensions, which, as explained previously, is not a complete solution, but rather an effort that, from a budgetary perspective, contributes to a better structure through all the measures being adopted in the macroeconomic stabilization program.

The Minister highlighted the importance of the national tax filing and payment campaign, which involves taxpayers from all sectors, both public and private, and fosters collective participation in exercising a shared right and the duty to contribute to social spending.

"For this reason," he pointed out, "we are calling on every taxpayer, every economic actor, in accordance with their ability to pay, to respond to this campaign to be more disciplined and more timely in paying taxes.

And of course, the administrative and institutional mechanisms through the tax administration will be more rigorous to guarantee these contributions, for the benefit of all."