General Workers Union casts doubt on budget deficit

On May 7, 2009, Primera Hora reported that the president of the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), Juan Eliza Colón, cast doubt on the certified $3,233 million deficit that Governor Luis Fortuño presented in his budget message the prior week.

In a statement, Eliza Colón alleged that errors found in the figures and the lack of an independent external audit “call into question the fiscal deficit recorded.” He cited as an example the recommended appropriation for Hacienda: $304,599,000 on one side and $206,849,000 on the other — a $97,750,000 difference — and asked whether the deficit is really more than $3,000 million.

He agreed with former OGP director Armando Valdés that the numbers must be reviewed “one by one” because the errors “are significant.” Former governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá also discounted the alleged deficit’s credibility; Héctor Ferrer (PPD) put the shortfall at $2,272 million.

Union accusation / political dispute over the size of the deficit ≠ independent audit published in this note. Certified figure ≠ adjudicated theft.

Source: Primera Hora. https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/notas/union-general-de-trabajadores-pone-en-duda-deficit-presupuestario/