Handing over resources to institutions solely on the basis of their budget performance shows a serious distortion of the accountability of the State. This is how many governments have functioned, but the current one has amplified it based on a top-down and punitive management style, refractory to structural solutions and comprehensive approaches, or without the expertise to initiate them. And it is symptomatic of the scale of his priorities that a good portion of the current cuts affect areas such as culture and education.
No doubt the two responsible ministries have not been able to implement the resources assigned in the last budget; The same has happened to other public institutions, to varying degrees. But, rather than attempting to address the causes of these poor results, the executive has chosen to further stifle the ability of both departments to fulfill their mandates. Result: one more step towards degradation of the services they provide and hence, gross neglect of the citizens’ needs that they should attend to.
What coincides is with political and managerial responsibility in the hierarchy demanding accounts and amendments, in which the budget is handled with fluidity, not to punish the victims of mismanagement. The executive has opted for the latter, and has disregarded other factors as well. The first is that performance collapses in any government change; second, that institutional suppliers, with few exceptions, have never been characterized by their efficiency; Third, the way fiscal rule is implemented has hindered the programming of budget execution.
In short, the problem mixes something circumstantial and a lot structural. Of course, the hierarchy (in this case the ministers) have a great responsibility, as it is up to them to improve or worsen the situation, and the facts show that culture and education are going backwards.
But not everything depends on its management in a year. Moreover, neither the President nor the Finance Minister can escape the part of responsibility that falls on them.
It is up to them – especially the former – to set the course and ensure good overall government management. It is not fair that the rope of inexperience is broken by the tiniest: denial of services.
