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Venezuela’s 2017 budget aims to break the oil-rentier model and promote a new system of social justice in the country, an official said Friday.
Vice President for Planning and Knowledge Ricardo Menendez said that 74 percent of spending is devoted to social projects: 50 percent to health, education and social programs, and 24 percent to infrastructure development, urban infrastructure and public works.
He added that 83 percent of the national budget – estimated at over US$830 million – will come from taxes. Another 12 percent will be financed with revenue from socialist state enterprises and only 3.2 percent with oil exports, based on an average of the Venezuelan barrel price of US$30.
Menendez said that the government is committed "to the breakdown of the oil rentier model, and (to) build(ing) another model, greater justice” and to “show how the horizon is raised in Venezuela.”
“We counter the neoliberal model with a production model, and that production comes from our people,” said Menendez.
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Saving Chavismo in Venezuela
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro presented the budget directly to the Supreme Court for approval on Friday, bypassing interference from the country's aggressive right-wing opposition in the National Assembly.
The Supreme Court had previously declared invalid all acts of the National Assembly after the organization swore-in three legislators whose proclamations had been suspended over irregularities when during their campaigns.
The right wing has also been accused of sabotaging the economy, provoking violence to destabilize the country and having no interest in solving any economic problems.
The budget was approved by Maduro after consultation with a popular assembly. It will be rolled out with revitalized methods for management, in step with local governments.
Maduro also approved the Annual Operating Plan and debt law for next year.
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