Total public debt rose sharply in all countries in the region in 2020. Eight countries have surpassed the regional average of 10.7 percentage points of GDP, but The Dominican Republic recorded the largest increase with an increase of 16.3 percentage points of GDP.

Data provided by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in its publication “Financial Panorama for Latin America and the Caribbean 2021: Fiscal Policy Challenges in the Transformational Recovery After COVID-19”.

In terms of increasing public debt during 2020, Brazil follows with 15 percentage points of GDP, Panama with 14.9, Argentina with 14.3, Colombia with 12.8, Ecuador and Uruguay with 12.5, Honduras with 10.9, Paraguay with 10.5 and Peru with 10.4. The country in which the least increase was observed was Chile with only 4.6 percentage points of GDP.

69% of the debt was in dollars

This study published by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean shows that 69% of the state’s public debt has been contracted in dollars as of December 2020, While 28% were in pesos, 1% in euros and 2% in other currencies. This degree of indebtedness, the agency reveals, adds an additional stress factor to the financial accounts.

Public procurement from a gender perspective

As positive news, ECLAC’s Fiscal Panorama points out that the Dominican Republic is One of the countries that stands out is among those that made the most progress in using public procurement From a gender perspective.