MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile’s 2010 budget reinforces social assistance programs and education

Satisfied and proud Finance minister Andres Velasco

While other nations are struggling to cut costs and sacrificing social programs to combat the worldwide economic crisis, Chile´s 2010 budget will grow by 4.3% next year and includes a 5.8% increase in social assistance programs, Finance Minister Andrés Velasco announced this week.

The 2010 budget - proposed by Velasco this week – follows news that unemployment appears to have stabilized at 10.8% for the second consecutive month.

Velasco said Chile will meet budget its responsibilities and be one of the nations to most quickly recover from the world economic crisis because, “We were well prepared.”

Under Velasco´s guidance, President Michelle Bachelet’s government implemented a strict savings plan when the economy was soaring due to high copper prices a few years back. That decision was highly criticized by opposition parties at the time (and some within the governing Concertacion coalition), but proved to be a very wise decision.

The surplus that accumulated allowed Chile to continue with social programs, increase stimulus spending and provide assistance to the most vulnerable through the tough 2009 fiscal year and on into 2010.

Velasco proposes a balanced budget for 2010 with a 4.3% spending increase compared to 2009. Spending focuses on education, social needs and increasing economic activity. The Finance minister is projecting a 5% growth in GDP. The budget allocates over 7 billion US dollars to infrastructure spending to build sports and cultural facilities, roads and housing throughout the country.

The Health Ministry alone will spend 5.9 billion USD, an 8% increase over 2009, to build 31 new hospitals, among other projects. That will bring the number of hospitals built under Bachelet´s government to 90, a promise made during her campaign.

By Pamela Morales - Santiago Times

Education funding will increase for the third year in a row and represents the largest block of spending in the 2010 budget. The nearly 8 billion will in part be used to double, from 30,000 to 60,000, the number of laptops awarded to the country’s best performing 7th graders.

There are also increases in grants for students to study English, computer sciences or technical fields and those wanting to complete post graduate studies abroad Velasco stressed that education spending is key to Chile’s future growth, stating, “A good education is a priority for today, not tomorrow.”