Interview with with Comrade Ivan Acosta, Minister of Finance and Public Credit, with Marcela Heredia, Journalist
Global Connection Program, TELESUR,
8th July, 2021
Journalist Marcela Heredia
We are expecting Ivan Acosta, Minister of Finance and Public Credit, we want to know a little bit more about the program presented. Welcome, good morning.
Words by Ivan Acosta
Good morning, Marcela, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity.
The Government of Nicaragua, the President of the Republic, Comandante Daniel Ortega, has set a route toward economic reactivation and reconnection with the path of the Growth that gave us the best 10 years of the Republican History. It was growth above 5%, and we have planned to build a new National Plan for the Fight against Poverty for Development allowing us to regain the drive toward prosperity for the Nicaraguan People.
Indeed, this period is the one with the greatest impact on poverty reduction, a reduction from 48.3 to 24.6; Extreme Poverty, from 17.8 to 6.9. And it is definitely when the investment in Economic Infrastructure has been most impacted, the number of paved highways has doubled, making our country the one with the best highways in Central America and one of the best in Latin America.
It has been almost 100% electrified, we are reaching more than 99% in 2021; Rapid progress has been made in strategic investment building the Hospital Infrastructure Network for the largest public service in Central America, and that has had a good impact on being able to serve the pandemic as our People deserve it.
We have also invested in the Rural Sector, in Small, Medium, Micro Producers, capitalizing them with Productive Bonuses, development Agendas, financing through the Zero Usury Program in order to incorporate
more Women into the Economy, Social Protagonism; that is, creating the conditions for greater Equity, reducing gender gaps. And that has also been a great result, Nicaragua has garnered International Recognition as the fifth Country globally, in Gender Equity.
I believe that these results encourage us to make a new Proposal to continue reducing Poverty, focusing on the issue of the Fight against Poverty as the main challenge. And, definitely, if we were successful in previous years, there is necessarily a national, and surely global, recognition that Nicaragua is on the right track and has a Good Government and great National Leadership in President Daniel Ortega Saavedra.
Journalist Marcela Heredia
There is an issue here that is more than necessary and that is being addressed throughout the world; I would like to know the position of the Nicaraguan Government. We are talking about the matrix that is generated with the use of fuel, the Energy Matrix, how are they going to work when everyone is already targeting the Green Mechanisms, let's say, And when Nicaragua has enough resources to face such an action?
Words by Ivan Acosta
Definitely, the renewable energy generation matrix that has been transformed in the last five years, advancing from 22% to 75% of the generation matrix, is a route that will continue until reaching practically 90% of electricity generation with Renewable Resources.
This is very important, since, for the Country to be sustainable in the long term, we must move towards Climate-Friendly Strategies. We are a country that does not contribute much to climate damage, no more than 0.02%, but we do believe that we can contribute to the strategic sustainability of National Development, because we are dedicated to food production, we need to recover water, recover Forests, Strategic Forestry Investment.
Definitely, the transformation of the Country happens by being a greener country, a neutral generation Country, and in this case the transformation of the Energy Matrix is a goal that we are going to achieve, in the next 5, 6 years we will be at 90%. This will improve our balance of payments, the trade balance, since Oil is one of the largest imports in the import basket; then, as this import is reduced, it will be much better for the balance of payment of the economy.
So, definitely, the challenge is to produce more and better, increase productivity, incorporate an element that is associated with the generation of Energy, which is to seek more competitive rates to unleash the productive capacities, the agro-industrial capacity of our Country, and this will strengthen the exportable stock, which is what we have seen in recent years; exports have grown from 1,000 million, 1,046 million in 2006, to practically 6,000 million, and will surpass 6,000 million in 2021. That is, in other words, we are talking about 5 times more, 6 times more Exports.
This is how the Economy has grown within the dynamic of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, incorporating more Economic Agents, more Protagonists, Women, the Rural Sector, Indigenous Groups, to transform the Country in a Country truly of Hope and with an effective Route toward Development, where the central thing continues to be the proposal of the President of the Republic: The Fight against Poverty and the elimination of Extreme Poverty in our Country.
Journalist Marcela Heredia
Thank you very much, it will be until next time then.