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Oddone defends Uruguay's model ahead of Public Accounts, opposition questions fiscal course
🇺🇾 Uruguay /Economy & Trade

Oddone defends Uruguay's model ahead of Public Accounts, opposition questions fiscal course

From El País · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Uruguayan Economy Minister Gabriel Oddone defended the national model while acknowledging its limitations, particularly insufficient growth to sustain social protection.
  • Opposition senators criticized the government's fiscal direction, citing concerns over pension system reforms and tax increases.
  • The government plans to increase social transfers by $31 million, but the opposition questions the strategy and calls for clearer priorities.

Economy Minister Gabriel Oddone has defended Uruguay's national model ahead of the presentation of the Public Accounts, while also acknowledging its limitations. He stated that while Uruguay is a "great country," it faces "old and new challenges," including insufficient growth to maintain its social protection system.

Uruguay is “a great country,” but that maintains “old and new challenges,” among them an insufficient growth to sustain its scheme of social protection.

— Gabriel OddoneDescribing Uruguay's economic situation

Oddone highlighted the state's crucial role in advancements in energy, connectivity, digital education, and social protection. However, he also characterized the state as "large, slow, and sometimes ineffective and inefficient." He urged political discussions to focus on objectives rather than instruments and called for a "civilized management of dissent."

the Uruguayan state has been key to achieving advances in energy, connectivity, digital education and social protection, but also defined it as “large, slow and sometimes ineffective and inefficient”.

— Gabriel OddoneAssessing the role and performance of the state

The minister's remarks received support from Frente Amplio senator Daniel Caggiani, who affirmed the government's commitment to prioritizing its citizens. However, the opposition voiced strong criticism. Nationalist senator Javier García questioned Oddone's silence on the agreement reached in the Social Dialogue regarding the pension system, which he described as a move to "state-own" individual AFAP accounts. García also accused the government of raising taxes despite prior electoral commitments.

the political discussion must focus on the objectives and not on the instruments, and demanded a “civilized management of dissent”.

— Gabriel OddoneCalling for a specific approach to political debate

National Party deputy Pablo Abdala anticipates reservations regarding the Public Accounts bill, which the government must submit to parliament soon. He expressed concern over the announced increase in social transfers, calling the government's signals "confusing" and stating that the administration "is in trouble." Abdala questioned the reallocation of spending, suggesting that the announced priorities, including childhood, security, education, and homelessness, might be mere "makeup" without a clear strategy. While valuing the increase in transfers, he warned it would be insufficient without accompanying family support policies. Opposition parties, including Cabildo Abierto, have yet to make a formal decision but hold a negative view of the government's direction.

always thinks about putting people first.

— Daniel CaggianiSupporting the government's priorities
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El País in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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