Congress begins analysis of the 2026 General Budget

The Congressional Budget Committeechaired by Congressman Mario Pérez, began this Friday the study of the reformed project of the General Budget 2026, sent on Thursday by the Executive Branch through the Ministry of Finance (Sefin).

During the session, a Sefin technical team, headed by its head Emilio Hernandez Herculesexplained to the members of the commission how the new budget proposal presented by the government of the President Nasry Asfuradetailing the distribution of the resources contemplated in the fiscal plan.

“This is a real and achievable budget; we have very clearly defined the sources of financing to be able to carry out the execution of the 444,265.8 million lempiras,” said the official.

The minister Hernandez Hercules reiterated that the instruction of the Executive Branch is to prioritize the organization of public finances before assuming new debt commitments, and affirmed that the preparation of the budget proposal It has been a work process started since December.

He budget project It amounts to 444,265.8 million lempiras, which represents a decrease of nearly 25,000 million in relation to the proposal previously presented by the previous authorities.

Likewise, the vice minister Liliam Rivera He highlighted that in the last five years the General Budget increased by 62%, although he pointed out that this increase has not been reflected in greater dynamism of the country’s economic growth.

According to Sefin, the budget proposal allocates a significant percentage to public investment, which exceeds 10% of the total and is estimated at around 48,000 million lempiras.

Likewise, it reported that between December 2021 and December 2025 there was an increase in spending allocated to the payment of salaries, which amounts to approximately 33,000 million lempiras.

In that same report, some detected irregularities were also pointed out, among them that from the National Agricultural Development Bank (Banadesa) payments were made linked to the personnel of the Cuban medical brigades.

After the installation of the technical table in charge of the analysis of the General Budget 2026 Together with the Ministry of Finance, the president of the commission announced that next week’s agenda will be focused on a series of meetings with different actors in the country.

The schedule includes the participation of representatives of civil society, as well as several State Secretariats, with the purpose of expanding the debate and review of the budget project.

The deputy Mario Perez He detailed that meetings have already been confirmed with organizations such as the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ), the National Anti-Corruption Council (CNA) and other civil society institutions interested in the process.

In addition, he reiterated that the National Congress maintains a policy of openness under the presidency of Tomas Zambranoensuring that any entity that wishes to participate will be able to do so through public hearings on the budget.

The Liberal Party deputy for the department of Choluteca, Yury Sabasmember of the Congressional Budget Commission, stated that the opposition has been satisfied with the information and explanations provided so far by the authorities of the Ministry of Finance.

“What we want is to invest in infrastructure and right now, with an increase of 48,000 million in road infrastructure, we look at it favorably,” he mentioned.