From "the numbers don't add up" to "take care of the fiscal accounts": parliamentary reactions to Kast's first budget

Supportive words and others of doubt were left among the various parliamentarians by President José Antonio Kast's presentation of the Budget for the year 2027, which will have a growth of 1.5% and will be focused on security, job creation and health. Earlier, the Minister of Finance, Jorge Quiroz, made the formal delivery of the project to the National Congress, which was announced through a national broadcast by President Kast this evening. From the ruling coalition, they backed the President's announcement and highlighted the "austere" nature of the proposal, whose discussion in Parliament must be finalized by November 30. From Renovación Nacional (RN), Senator María José Gatica —who is a member of the Senate Finance Committee— gave her support to the head of state, since "Chile needs an austere, responsible budget, that puts the money where it matters, in security and in putting the house in order." "We in RN are today the backbone of this government. We have approved all of its bills and we are going to work so that this budget is also approved. Because one thing is having the ideas and another is having the courage and the votes to govern. And RN has that courage," stated the representative of the Los Ríos Region. From Evópoli, Deputy Tomás Kast also highlighted the head of state's proposed "care" of the public coffers. "Taking care of the fiscal accounts does not mean neglecting people's urgencies. Spending grows by 1.5% with clear priorities in investment, employment, security, childhood and social protection," emphasized the deputy for the La Araucanía Region, an area for which he advocated that public works be carried out to generate employment. Deputy Kast also highlighted that social benefits such as the PGU (Universal Guaranteed Pension) and free education will continue, after which he pointed out that the possible elimination of these initiatives by the current government "was a falsehood that was attempted to be installed since the campaign." From the Republican Party, Deputy Macarena Santelices valued that "President Kast has put health among the priorities of the 2027 Budget, with an increase of 4.7% and more resources to tackle waiting lists, strengthen primary care and improve the management of the network." "It is also very important to advance on a shared medical record, an essential basket of medicines and the use of artificial intelligence to organize care according to the severity of each patient. These are concrete measures aimed at families waiting less and receiving more timely and better quality care," said the parliamentarian from the Metropolitan Region. Meanwhile, RN Deputy Diego Schalper, leader of the bench and member of the Finance Committee, stated that there are three noteworthy things about the presidential announcement. "The first is the 1.5% increase in budget spending, at a time when some were speculating that with the adjustments that have had to be made, the corrections, the good management of public finances, we would not manage to rise above 1%. The government surprises with 1.5%, which is great news, advancing more than 200 public works to generate employment," said Schalper. As a second point, he highlighted the Executive's "concern" for matters related to childhood, job creation and security, and "very importantly, maintaining social benefits in all those matters that are priorities for Chileans." The independent in the UDI seat, Natalia Romero, added that "we are waiting for Minister (Jorge) Quiroz to unlock the briefcase so we can review the budget in detail. Announcements must be backed by resources and translate into concrete solutions for families, especially those focused on generating more job opportunities." In addition, she stated that "as president of the Agriculture Committee, I missed an explicit signal for the sector and for agricultural employment. Many families depend on the seasons and need more opportunities and job stability." "We are going to review what resources are contemplated for irrigation, small farmers and food production. Failing to invest in the countryside can affect production, make food more expensive and directly hit families' pockets. That is why agriculture must occupy a clear place in the country's reactivation," said Romero. The PDG's analysis For the Party of the People (PDG), Deputy Fabián Ossandón, representative of the Antofagasta Region, stated that the announcement must be studied "with responsibility." "Now a very important task begins in Congress, to review it with responsibility, to look at each budget line and make sure that the resources translate into concrete solutions for the people," said Ossandón, who highlighted the focuses of the presidential message, such as security, health, among others. However, he specified that "we are also going to demand that the regions be present in this discussion." Opposition: doubts about possible cuts Meanwhile, from the opposition parties, they raised doubts regarding the figures given during the national broadcast on Wednesday night. The president of Frente Amplio (FA), Gael Yeomans, stated that "President Kast said that a budget decides what comes first and what is postponed. He announced that security grows by 9.1%, health by 4.7% and childhood by 4.1%." However, the deputy qualified this by saying that "what he does not say is which areas are going to suffer cuts with a budget as restrictive as this one. We want to know what is postponed and who it affects." Deputy Emilia Schneider, leader of the FA bench, added that "President Kast's government had the duty to deal, in this 2027 budget, with the crisis that they themselves generated with their bad economic decisions, and, evidently, they fall short." "They are a squeezed government in a tight spot, which does not fulfill what it promised in the campaign. We would have expected a budget that seriously commits to recovering jobs and containing the rise in prices that affects so many Chilean families. None of that is possible to do with less. Even if they say otherwise, it is not possible to do more with less," added the deputy for the Metropolitan Region. Likewise, Schneider announced that "we are going to study this national budget, we are going to evaluate it, we are available to dialogue, we have proposals (...)." From the Socialist Party, Deputy César Valenzuela stated that "the government is used to making big announcements with little content, and that is why we are going to be very attentive to the details of the budget in such sensitive matters as education or health." His colleague, Andrea Macías, raised doubts about the figures. "The numbers don't add up. If the budget increases by 1.5%, what is going to be cut in order to fulfill what is being said will be increased? Which are the programs that will definitely disappear?" Macías asked. "They talked about 632 programs having been evaluated, but not a word about that is what the President tells us. We don't know which saints they are going to undress in order to clothe another," added the representative of Aysén.