NICARAGUA

The Republic of Nicaragua is a unitary country with a presidential regime, as stipulated in articles 5, 6 and 144 of the 1987 political Constitution of Nicaragua, revised in 2014. The president of the Republic is elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term. The parliament (national assembly) is unicameral and composed of 90 members elected by universal suffrage for five years through a system of proportional representation. Of these 90 members, 70 are elected in the departments and autonomous regions. The judicial branch is represented by the Supreme Court of Justice, whose members are elected by the national assembly on the proposal of the president. The president also chooses the president of the Supreme Court of Justice.

According to the Administrative Political Division Law 59, the national territory is administratively divided into two autonomous regions of the Caribbean Coast (known as the autonomous regions of the Atlantic Coast until 2014), 15 departments and 153 municipalities. The legal framework of local government is governed by the Constitution, Law 28 on the Autonomous Status of the Caribbean Regions of 1987, revised by Law 926 of 2016 and the Municipalities Act 40 and 261. The Constitution acknowledges the municipality as the basic unit of the country’s political division (Art. 176) and guarantees its political, administrative and financial autonomy (Art. 177). Local authorities – mayor, deputy mayor and councillors – are elected by universal suffrage for five years. The last elections took place in 2017 for the 2018-2022 period and new elections are due in 2022 for the 2023-2027 term. The Constitution also recognises specific rights and autonomy for the regions of the Atlantic coast, which host a majority of indigenous and ethnic communities - Miskitos, Mayans or Sumos, Creoles, Garifonas and Mestizos - who can adopt their own forms of organisation according to their traditions and cultures (Arts. 89-90, 180-181).

The decentralisation process was initiated during the late 1980s and is primarily expressed in the promulgation of laws that establish the legal framework for municipalities, revised in 2012 and 2013: the Municipalities Act (40 and 261, revised in 2012), the Municipal Budget Regime Act (376, 2013), the Budget Transfers to Municipalities Act (466, 2003 and 850, 2013) and the Citizen’s Participation Act (475, 2003). The Nicaraguan Institute of Municipal Development (INIFOM or Instituto Nicaragüense de Fomento Municipal) was created in 1990 to provide the municipalities with support and assistance from central government. Coordination with the higher level of government for the provision of services currently operates in a top-down system, which means that more than 80% of the municipalities belong to the ruling party.

Article 177 of the 1987 Constitution stipulates that the municipalities enjoy financial autonomy, ratified by Law 40 in 1988, which states that a municipality may have its own assets and rely on a series of sources of municipal revenues (taxation, private income, financial revenues and transfers from central government). The tax revenues were established with the promulgation of the Local Taxation decree 455 in 1989 and the Managua Taxation decree 10-91 in 1991. This legislation does not provide full financial autonomy and causes inequality among the municipalities, which was further reinforced by the reforms to the Municipalities Act of 1997, which widened the range of responsibilities at local level. In an attempt to redress this imbalance, vehicle tax and property tax were transferred to the municipalities, the system of transfers was put in place and a Municipal Creditworthiness Act was passed. Reforms to the Municipalities Act in 2012 saw the number of elected councillors tripled, increasing personnel costs and once more reducing municipal autonomy. Fiscal neutrality was implemented with the reform in 2013 to the Budget Transfers to Municipalities Act, obliging the municipalities to dedicate 22.5% of the transfers received to investments in the sectors of health, education, environment, water and sanitation, all competences for which central government is primarily responsible.

TERRITORIAL ORGANISATION
MUNICIPAL LEVEL	INTERMEDIATE LEVEL	REGIONAL LEVEL	TOTAL NUMBER OF SNGs (2018)
153 municipalities (municipios)		2 autonomous regions (regiones autónomas)
Average municipal size: 43 109 inhabitants
153		2	155

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: The national territory is divided into two autonomous regions and 153 municipalities (Administrative Political Division Act 59, 2005). The 15 departments are administrative entities of the central government. The regions and the municipalities are decentralised levels of government and enjoy political, administrative and financial autonomy.

Although the statute of autonomy indicates very general functions for the two autonomous regions of the Caribbean Coast, in reality they perform all the functions of central government. For this reason, they are shown as having shared responsibility and their expenditure forms part of the general budget of the Republic.

The communal authorities are administrative entities that represent the communities that elect them in line with their customs and traditions. The communal assembly constitutes the highest authority of the indigenous and ethnic communities (Art. 31 and 32 of the regulation to Law 28, decree 3584). They exist as formal authorities, known as executive councils, that are formed through the corresponding legislation and formal election processes. The councils of elders (consejos de ancianos), reform councils (consejos de reforma) and mayors (alcaldes de vara), for example, whose election or nomination are not provided for by official regulations (Art. 68 of the Municipalities Act 40 and 261), are governed by tradition and custom in the indigenous communities.

REGIONAL LEVEL: The regional level is made up of the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCN or Región Autónoma de la Costa Caribe Norte) and the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCS or Región Autónoma de la Costa Caribe Sur). Within the unity of the Nicaraguan state, the communities of the Caribbean Coast enjoy autonomous status set out in the Constitution, which guarantees them the effective exercise of their historic rights, the recognition of their languages and more. The administrative bodies of the autonomous regions are the regional council, the regional coordination body and the municipal and communal authorities. The regional council, led by an executive board, and the regional coordinator are the highest authorities of each autonomous region.

The regional council is composed of 45 members elected by a universal, equal, direct, free and secret vote for a four-year term and must represent all the ethnic communities in the autonomous region in accordance with the system determined by the electoral laws. From among its members, the regional council elects an executive board for coordination and administration, which is made up of one president, two vice-presidents, two secretaries and two board members. They must reflect the diversity of the ethnic community of each autonomous region. In each term of regional government, a first executive board is elected to serve for two years and seven months followed by a second executive board that serves for two years and five months (Art. 19 and 27, revised Statute of Autonomy). The representatives to the national assembly of the respective autonomous regions are also members of the regional council with a voice and a vote. The regional coordinator is elected from the members of the regional council at the same time as the election of the executive board and represents the president of the Republic.

The municipalities in the autonomous regions operate in the same way as in the rest of the country except that they have to comply with the legal autonomous framework and submit a report every six months to the autonomous regional councils.

MUNICIPAL LEVEL: The municipalities are governed by a municipal government consisting of municipal authorities elected by the inhabitants through universal suffrage. The highest regulatory authority is the municipal council, and the highest executive authority is the mayor and vice-mayor, who form part of the municipal council. The mayor presides over the municipal council. The municipal councillors are elected by proportional representation and their number is determined by the population of the municipalities. The candidates for the posts of mayor and vice-mayor must meet a proportionality of 50-50 in terms of gender equality. The Municipalities Act also provides for the obligation to create complementary mechanisms to strengthen civic participation in local government. The number of councillors was increased through reforms to Article 26 of the Municipalities Act 40 and 261, through Law 792, published in the gazette, the official journal 109 of 12 June 2012.

According to data from the National Institute of Information and Development (INIDE or Instituto Nacional de Información y Desarrollo) and from the Municipal Transfers and Information platform (TRANSMUNI or Transferencias e Información Municipal) of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público), of the seven groups of municipalities that currently exist, groups 1 and 2 are made up of the poorest, most rural municipalities with the lowest number of inhabitants. In 2018 they represented 80% of the municipalities, accounting for 41% of the population and 43% of the budget resources. Group 3, comprising 11.8% of all municipalities, is the intermediate group in terms of resource management (11% of the total in 2018) and concentration of population (18%). Groups 4 and 5 are made up of the largest municipalities, departmental capitals, and those that are most advanced and with the largest urban populations. They represented just 7.2% of all municipalities but accounted for 19% of the resources for the period and contained 22% of the population. In the last census, not a single municipality was included in group 6, for those with a population greater than 200 000 inhabitants. Group 7 corresponds to the municipality of Managua, the country’s capital, which managed 27% of the resources of the period and concentrates 17% of the population.

HORIZONTAL COOPERATION: The Municipalities Act 40 and 261, Articles 47 and 48, stipulates that the municipal government has the power to debate and approve national and international public relations of the municipality. These include twinning partnerships with other municipalities in the country or overseas, whether of solidarity and cooperation or for technical and economic assistance. According to a publication of 15 July 2016 in the official newspaper of central government, more than 60 municipalities have twinning arrangements with cities in other countries.

There are very few known cases of twinning arrangements between municipalities within Nicaragua itself. This may indicate that these are one-off relationships, formed in order to exchange experiences triggered by cooperation projects and actions planned as part of joint products and their corresponding procurement procedures as provided for by the legal arrangements of the projects. These are not actions initiated by central government, but individual activities carried out in response to specific needs.

The constitutional reform of 1995 widened considerably the range of competences established in the Municipalities Act 40 of 1987. The constitutional text provides that local governments have competence in all matters that have an impact on the economic development of their constituency (Art. 177). The reform to the Municipalities Act 261 of 1998, consistent with the approach laid down in the Constitution, expanded on the issue of the competences in Art. 7. Likewise, the reform to the Budget Transfers to Municipalities Act 850 of 2013 widened the municipal competences by establishing in general terms the obligation to dedicate a minimum percentage (22.5%) of the capital transfers to investments in the sectors of health, education, environment, water and sanitation. A lack of clarity about the level of government responsible for providing these services created conflict between the central government ministries charged with these portfolios and the municipal administrations that required the relevant resources and the appropriate coordination.

The Municipal Budget Law 376 of 2001, reformed in 2013 in Art. 10, establishes eight categories of municipalities for the purposes of budgetary management. Based on these categories, the following were established: the obligation to implement a programme-based budgeting system (Art. 60), the allocation of a minimum percentage to category-specific investments (Art. 19) and the minimum and maximum salary, as well as allowances for the elected representatives (Art. 17 and 18).

At regional government level, Law 28 of 1987 on the Autonomous Statutes for the Coastal Caribbean Regions, Art. 8, establishes general responsibilities that are financed directly as part of the general budget of the Republic, and are therefore classified as shared competences.

Main responsibility sectors and sub-sectors
SECTORS AND SUB-SECTORS	Regional level	Municipal level
1. General public services (administration)	Traditional public buildings and equipment (from the indigenous communities) (shared)	Civil register (shared); Maintenance and repair of municipal public buildings and installations; Administration and operation of general services; Management of cemeteries and funeral services; Basic research and planning activities
2. Public order and safety	Fire prevention and fire-fighting (shared)	Traffic lights and road signs (shared)
3. Economic affairs / transports	Regional networks, roads, airports, regional ports, transport (shared); Agriculture and rural development (shared); Support for local enterprises (shared); Tourism (shared); Participation in the design and implementation of national development plans at regional level (shared); Promotion of regional development plans and regional markets (shared)	Intra-municipal streets and roads; Intra-municipal urban and rural public transport; Special intra-municipal transport services; Bus stations and issuance of operating permits; Agriculture, rural development, irrigation (shared); Tourism (shared); Trade (shared); Administration of markets; Rural electricity (shared)
4. Environment protection	Preservation of natural resources (shared); Protection of agricultural land and water resources (shared); Traditional Coastal waters (shared); Policies on climate change (shared)	Parks and green spaces; Conservation of flora and fauna (shared); Mitigation of noise and vibrations (shared); Air pollution (shared); Protection of land and groundwater (shared); Climate protection; Waste management (collection, treatment and disposal); Sewerage (shared); Street cleaning; Rainwater drainage; Disaster prevention and mitigation (shared); Land control and use
5. Housing and community amenities	Construction/improvement and management of settlements (shared)	Construction of social housing; Regularisation of residential property titles; Culture, sports and leisure; Libraries; Museums (shared); Municipal parks; Cultural activities (theatres, exhibitions, zoos, botanical gardens, etc.); Cultural heritage/monuments (shared); Religious affairs; Water and sanitation
6. Health	Hospitals (shared)	Construction and maintenance of healthcare centres; Primary healthcare or health clinics (shared); Preventative healthcare (shared); Public health services (shared); Maternity units (shared)
7. Culture & Recreation	Development and protection of cultural heritage and traditional communities (shared); Regional museums (shared); Cultural heritage (shared)	Sports and leisure; Libraries; Museums; Cultural activities (theatres, exhibitions, zoos, botanical gardens, etc.); Cultural heritage/monuments; Radio, television and communications media, editorials; Religious affairs
8. Education	Primary and secondary school enrolment (shared)	Construction, replacement and maintenance of infant, primary, secondary and tertiary education establishments (shared) Administration of technical colleges (shared)
9. Social Welfare	Assistance for elderly and disabled people (social services) (shared)	Social services for children and young people (shared); Family social services (shared); Elderly people (shared); Disabled people (shared); Social services centres; Grants (shared)

Scope of fiscal data: Municipalities. The finances of the 2 regions are included in the central government budget.

SNA 2008

Availability of fiscal data: Medium

Quality/reliability of fiscal data: Medium

GENERAL INTRODUCTION: The legal budgetary framework at municipal level is principally made up of the Municipal Budget Regime Act 376 of 2001, reformed in 2013, the Financial Administration and Budget Regime Act 550 of 2005 and the Budget Transfers to Municipalities of Nicaragua Act 466 of 2003, reformed in 2013.

Law 28 referring to the autonomous regions specifies that the regional councils may create regional taxes through their own taxation plan. To date there are no regional taxes, which means that their funding relies solely on the general budget resources of the Republic, determined annually in coordination with the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (MHCP or Ministerio de Hacienda y del Crédito Público). Since they do not have their own income, the finances of the regions are included in the data from central government.

Control over the public administration and the auditing of the assets and resources of the state is exercised by the comptroller general of the Republic.

A study conducted by the IADB concluded that Nicaragua has experienced a high level of decentralisation compared to the rest of the Central America region. Local revenues and expenditure represented around 4% of GDP between 2012 and 2018, according to data from the Central Bank of Nicaragua and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.

The data were compiled from the municipalities’ initial budget and investment plans for 2018, which were available on the website of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit until mid-2018.

Subnational government expenditure by economic classification
2018	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total expenditure	217	3.7%	12.1%	100.0%
Inc. current expenditure	117	2.0%	8.4%	54.0%
Compensation of employees	56	1.0%	12.1%	25.8%
Intermediate consumption	21	0.4%	6.2%	9.5%
Social expenditure	14	0.2%	4.8%	6.2%
Subsidies and current transfers	7	0.1%	3.1%	3.3%
Financial charges	20	0.3%	22.0%	9.3%
Others	-	-	-	-
Incl. capital expenditure	100	1.7%	24.9%	46.0%
Capital transfers	16	0.3%	10.4%	7.6%
Direct investment (or GFCF)	83	1.4%	34.2%	38.4%

EXPENDITURE: In the last decade, the municipalities have been increasing their expenditure, reaching a share of over 3.7% of GDP by 2018 and 12.1% of total public expenditure. The increase is funded mainly by the budgetary transfers defined by law.

In 2018, the expenditure per capita was USD 217 PPP, a sum greater than the rest of Central America, where the average was USD 100 PPP per year, according to a review of municipal finances carried out by the IADB in 2017. In 2018, the municipalities allocated 54% of their resources to the operating costs of public management and the provision of general public services, while 46.0% was funnelled into capital expenditure. The resources allocated to personnel costs are the second largest part of the expenditure at 25.8% of the total, a rate very similar to the average in Central America. This can be explained in part by the conditions established in the system of transfers, which oblige the municipalities to use them for direct investment.

DIRECT INVESTMENT: The bulk of the expenditure was for direct investment, making up 38.4% of the total, or USD 83 PPP per inhabitant, above the average for the isthmus of Central America, which the IADB study calculated at 28.3%. The direct investment made by local governments represented a considerable proportion (34.2%) of the public investment of the general government and 1.4% of GDP in 2018.

Although the law empowers the municipalities to form associations for the provision of services, the concept of public-private partnerships is still in its infancy and tends to focus more on links between municipalities or public institutions at central level.

Subnational government expenditure by functional classification
2018	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total expenditure by economic function	217	3.7%	12.1%	100.0%
1. General public services	117	2.0%	37.2%	54.0%
2. Defence	-	-	-	-
3. Security and public order	0.1	0.0%	0.04%	0.02%
4. Economic affairs/transports	51	0.9%	21.1%	23.6%
5. Environmental protection	16	0.3%	67.4%	7.2%
6. Housing and community amenities	12	0.2%	7.3%	5.2%
7. Health	3	0.1%	1.6%	1.6%
8. Recreation, culture and religion	9	0.2%	38.7%	4.3%
9. Education	4	0.1%	1.6%	2.0%
10. Social protection	5	0.1%	1.1%	2.1%

The area of expenditure that saw the greatest allocation of resources in 2018 was that of general public services (54.0%), which includes personnel costs, general administration costs, handling and management of fundraising and management of the authorities and government officials in the provision of the administrative services. The local governments contributed 37.2% to the general public expenditure in this spending category.

Apart from these management costs, within the direct municipal investment, the municipalities prioritised economic development activities (23.6% of the total expenditure), by executing projects designed to support and promote tourism and empowering small producers, as well as looking after roads, streets, bridges and sidewalks to favour economic activity and individual mobility. The next item comprised new measures to protect the environment, for which the municipalities allocated 7.2% of expenditure, giving priority to disaster prevention and mitigation, and the protection of river basins, reforestation and care of fauna. This was done in line with their competences and responsibilities, according to the 2018 municipal investment plans. Local governments contributed 67.4% of total public expenditure to this category, which represented a significant involvement in measures to protect the environment. This is followed by expenditure on housing and community services and on recreational, cultural and religious activities, which stand out with 5.2 % and 4.3% of the resources.

Subnational government revenue by category
2018	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total revenue	237	4.0%	-	100.0%
Tax revenue	75	1.3%	8.1%	31.7%
Grants and subsidies	125	2.1%	-	52.8%
Tariffs and fees	11	0.2%	-	4.6%
Income from assets	2	0.03%	-	0.8%
Other revenues	24	0.4%	-	10.1%

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: The power to create and modify taxes is reserved for the national assembly, which approves the taxation plan proposed by the municipalities. There is one single taxation plan for 152 municipalities that dates back to 1988, and one taxation plan exclusively for the municipality of Managua, approved in 1991, which has a wider fiscal base and greater powers to force compliance with the tax obligation of contributors, which favours more coercive action.

The municipalities have few sources of fiscal revenue.

TAX REVENUE: The tax revenue in the municipalities through the 2010s represented around 60% of the total revenue, as revealed in the IADB study mentioned above. That dropped to 31.7% in 2018 due to the increase in budgetary transfers in the funding structure. Despite this, the fiscal revenue per capita went up from USD 44 PPP in 2015 to USD 75 PPP in 2018, representing a rise of 70%.

The most important tax in the funding structure of the municipalities is the sales tax, which makes up 80% of the fiscal revenue and is paid by everyone who receives an income from sales activities in the municipal constituency. In second place is the property tax, which makes up 17.9% of fiscal revenue. This tax is levied on land ownership and any improvements made to it (buildings, perennial crops, etc.) at market price less 25%. The IADB study reveals that in 2015 this tax represented 8.9% in the structure of fiscal revenue, while the average in Central America was 16.2%. Income per capita rose from USD 12 PPP in 2015 to USD 18 PPP in 2018. The literature suggests that this tax is the one with the strongest base for the municipalities as it is relatively stable while offering permanent growth.

GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES: Grants and subsidies are the main resource in the revenue structure of the municipalities, representing 52.8% of total income in 2018. The transfers allocated to operating costs make up 15.6% of the total, while earmarked capital transfers represent the majority of the transfers received, at 84.4% of the total.

The Budget Transfer Laws (Nos. 466, 2003 and 850, 2013) define the amount of national budget that must be sent to the municipalities (initially 4%, growing by 0.5% annually if GDP grew by 1%, until it reached 10% of the national budget in 2010). However, in 2015, the subsidies represented around 8.5% of the total national income. The law (Art. 12) has made mandatory the percentage of capital grants allocated to investments by sector, i.e., health, education, environment, water and sanitation (although the municipalities from D to G may divert part of the subsidies to personnel costs). Amounts are allocated according to different criteria: tax inequalities (revenue collection/population), efficiency in property tax collection, population, efficiency in grant implementation. The specific amount for each municipality is calculated by a national transfer commission. A 2017 IADB study points out that the distribution of grants benefits small municipalities that receive, per capita, four times the amount received by Managua and seven times more than medium-sized municipalities.

OTHER REVENUE: Fees and tariffs are an important form of income, established in the taxation plan and representing 4.6% of the total income in 2018. The fees correspond to services for issuing civil registration documents, the collection, transport and treatment of waste, the administration of cemeteries etc. Exploitation fees are levied on people who apply for the right to exploit municipal public resources or those of higher-level entities and that are not handled by that higher-level entity. The lack of cost studies carried out and/or published in an appropriate manner by the municipalities is a problem under the taxation plan as it means the fees and tariffs are set arbitrarily.

In turn, income from assets is not a particularly important source of revenue, representing less than 1% of the total. This corresponds to a large extent to leases on municipal properties and in some cases the sale of certain assets.

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

FISCAL RULES: The Nicaraguan municipalities must elaborate and approve their annual budget with no initial deficit. The mayor is responsible for preparing and presenting the budget proposal for the following year to the municipal council, which must discuss and approve it before the end of the first quarter of the corresponding year. The mayor is required to send a copy of the municipal budget to the comptroller general of the Republic and to the Nicaraguan Municipal Development Institute (INIFO or Instituto Nicaragüense de Fomento Municipal) for the purposes of statistics and technical assistance. Local budgets must be balanced, including all debt payments.

DEBT: The Municipalities Act 40 and 261 reformed in Art. 20 and the Municipal Budget Regime Act regulate the budgetary rule required to manage debt, empowering the municipalities to manage and approve loans contracted to finance development projects. To that end, they must draft a financial statement and demonstrate their actual or predicted ability to repay the loan. The law stipulates that the debt service of all credits may not exceed 20% of the municipality’s current annual revenues. Municipalities do not have to obtain higher level authorisation for short-term loans over a maximum period of two years. The rule is a general one and does not differentiate between local entities. At regional level there is no rule regulating the contracting of debt, which is governed by the central public debt policy.

For the most part, municipalities have not applied for loans from the national bank and there is no public information, available data or register of those who may have accessed credit in this way. A journalistic publication of 2020 on the website Onda Local Nicaragua cites an investigation that was set up following complaints by the officials elected in 2018 about debts left by the previous officials. The budgets published up to mid-2018 on the website of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (MHCP) record the amount that was allocated to pay off said debt, but not the amount of the debt itself.

TERRITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE CRISIS: The pandemic arrived in Nicaragua in a political and institutional context characterised by political conflicts, which meant there was less room for dissent. Until the end of November 2021, the Nicaraguan government did not impose any kind of quarantine or restriction on movement and/or gatherings. Quite the reverse: it promoted cultural activities and political rallies. The management of the official figures of cases and deaths has been queried by some organisations and independent sources of information, which have published different figures from those announced by the national government.

There is no public knowledge of coordination mechanisms established between central and local levels.

EMERGENCY MEASURES TO COPE WITH THE CRISIS AT THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT: The budget report states that the central government allocated expenditure of 0.9% of GDP to fight the pandemic, financed through borrowing. By the start of 2022, the government had managed to obtain USD 613.71 million which, according to published information, it used to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The loans were channelled to various institutions to pay for pharmaceutical products, oxygen and medical equipment.

In terms of taxation policy, in line with the High Council for Private Enterprise (COSEP or Consejo Superior de la Empresa Privada), collection measures were imposed by central government in 2020 to avoid the collapse of government revenue due to the slump in the country’s economic activity. These included an increase in fees to register trademarks and patents, an increase in capital income payments by the Directorate General of Revenue (DGI or Dirección General de Ingresos), the overvaluation of the cadastral value of properties, which increased the calculated payments of the Property Tax (IBI or Impuesto de Bienes Inmuebles), debts of value on the imports of certain products and new rates for stamp duty tax. Globally, the central government was seen to take revenue-raising measures, while also maintaining weekly increases on fuel prices.

The municipalities allocated resources and took measures to deal with the pandemic, although due to the lack of public information, it is not possible to indicate a source of information. The main item addressed was the payment of funeral costs as a way of supporting those affected. Money was also spent on measures related to hygiene and distancing with the purchase of hygiene, cleaning and disinfecting materials to control compliance with the sanitary measures. Another aspect where information is available about local actions relates to the fumigation of public spaces and housing in urban areas.

IMPACTS OF THE CRISIS ON SUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE: The lack of public information makes it impossible to assert with any certainty what the effects have been on subnational government finance.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STIMULUS PLANS: At national level, the Superintendency of Banks and Other Financial Institutions (SIBOIF or Superintendencia de Bancos y Otras Instituciones Financieras) issued financial easing measures in June 2020 to deal with the pandemic. Favourable terms were offered to creditors including those owing money for vehicle hire purchase, personal debt, mortgages, microcredits, SMEs, agricultural, livestock, industrial and commercial loans in all sectors of the economy. These resolutions enabled the financial institutions to defer and/or extend the period of repayment originally agreed for the loans, but only in those cases where such a modification would benefit the creditor.

In terms of the economy, the measures adopted were to release reserves of national currency, to reduce the base lending rate for monthly reports, to authorise financial entities to negotiate quotas, to extend the time period and moratoria of credit, and to reduce minimum payments for credit cards.

At local level, the policy pursued was the ongoing promotion of trade fairs and promotional events for small businesses.