In the last days of April 2021 the Guatemalan deputies approved the modifications to Decree 57-92, which among other things allow for the expansion of the amounts of direct and low value purchases.
According to the
Congress of the Republic, the new regulation favors the timely execution of state projects, without forgetting the standards of probity, transparency and quality of public spending, a mechanism that translates into new projects in health, education, road infrastructure, drinking water and sanitation at the local level.
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The business sector does not share the vision of the legislators, as they assure that with these modifications controls have been eliminated in the procurement processes, raising the amounts for direct purchases, generating incentives for discretionality and corruption.
Through a statement issued by the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Agriculture on May 12, the business sector requests President
Alejandro Giammattei "
to veto Decree 4-2021 to the Law of State Contracting in accordance with the provisions of article 178 of the Political Constitution of the Republic."
The document specifies that "
... considering that the eventual entry into force of this decree contravenes the actions and objectives announced by the head of the Executive Branch to strengthen transparency, accountability and improvement of the quality of public spending."
We urge the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch to technically and in accordance with the principles of efficiency, transparency and quality of public spending, to elaborate, discuss and approve a comprehensive reform that technically also considers the revision of the State budget and the reform of the civil service law, concludes the statement.
, which among other things allow for an increase in the amounts of direct and low value purchases.