The international seminar, organised by the Government of Guanajuato Secretariat of Finance, Investment and Administration and the European Union EUROsociAL+ programme, showcased the good practice developed by the State of Guanajuato, which has earned it several national and international distinctions.
Image: courtesy of the Government of Guanajuato Finance Secretariat
The Government of the State of Guanajuato, through its Ministry of Finance, Investment and Administration (SFIA), in coordination with the European Union and the EUROsociAL+ programme, held the international seminar “Challenges for Post COVID-19 Public Finances” in order to address the challenges faced by governments from different latitudes in optimising the resources that allow the crisis caused by the present health emergency to be addressed and overcome.
The event included participation from Héctor Salgado Banda, Secretary of Finance, Investment and Administration with the Guanajuato regional government, and Jérôme Poussielgue, Counsellor for Cooperation with the European Union Delegation to Mexico; as well as Sonia González and Fernando de la Cruz, from the EUROsociAL+ Department of Democratic Governance Policies. Experts from Argentina, Costa Rica, Spain, Mexico and Paraguay participated as panellists.
In his opening message, Héctor Salgado Banda highlighted that the Governor of Guanajuato, Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo, had instructed him from the beginning of his administration to consolidate an innovative budgetary model that would allow the entity to finance public policies and specific programmes in order to promote economic stability, financial sustainability and the development of the State.
He said that for many years now they have been introducing multiple improvements and innovations in the state public finances to ensure a balanced, responsible and austere budget, which are now embodied in the Guanajuato Budget Model, which has been honoured nationally and internationally, recently being placed in top position nationally in the PbR-SED Diagnosis by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.
Jérôme Poussielgue in turn highlighted the support from the European Union through the Delegation and EUROsociAL+, in joining the efforts by the Ministry of Finance with the aim of making the most of its budget as a sub-national model that ensures sustainable development while at the same time legitimising the government’s political action. He added that the Delegation will seek to extend the successful experience of Guanajuato to all states that wish to adopt it in Mexico.
During the first panel, moderated by Anabel Pulido, General Director of the Institute for Guanajuato Women, the current and future state of inclusive budgets was discussed, highlighting the importance of improving the budget culture to more effectively address inequalities between various groups and, in general, to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. The need to cover all stages of the budget cycle, to adopt open government standards and to take advantage of the benefits of international strategic alliances was highlighted.
In the second session, led by Álvaro del Blanco, Deputy General Director of the Spanish Institute of Fiscal Studies, strategic budgets were analysed, highlighting the advantages of long-term planning, multi-year budgeting in accordance with the temporality of the results yielded by public policies, as well as tools to prioritise interventions and make allocations more flexible. Among the main challenges highlighted were appropriate inter-institutional coordination in the management of the entire budget cycle, the development of information systems for decision-making and the effective use of assessments, especially through comprehensive methodologies such as spending reviews.
To conclude, Sonia González, Coordinator with the EUROsociAL+ Democratic Governance Policies Department, emphasised the importance of an egalitarian fiscal policy to achieving economic reactivation and social cohesion. She also reiterated the commitment by EUROsociAL+ to continue supporting Latin American governments. Finally, she congratulated the Ministry of Finance for achieving first place nationally in the implementation of the PbR-SED, within the framework of joint work between both institutions.
By promoting these high-level forums, the Government of the State of Guanajuato ratifies its commitment to continue its lead in matters relating to public finances, consolidating a budgetary model that is a lever for reactivation and development as well as being an example both nationally and internationally.
See infographic: Educational Infrastructure Programme, embedded in the “Basic Education Coverage” Budgetary Programme by the State of Guanajuato
