LatinNews Daily - 02 July 2026

*Guatemala’s finance minister, Jonathan Menkos, has unveiled the government’s proposed 2027 State budget which is for Q181.6bn (US$23.8bn). This is equivalent to 16.6% of GDP, unchanged from the 2026 budget and up from 14.8% of GDP in 2025, and 13.8% in 2024. He said that with the proposed initiative, public spending by the leftist government led by President Bernardo Arévalo would increase 8% compared with the previous year, while total income was projected to rise 8.7%, driven by an estimate 9.9% rise in tax take. Menkos said that the proposed budget would prioritise “the sustainability of public finances, the strengthening of public investment, and transparency with regard to the drafting of the budget”. He also said that Guatemala’s public debt was expected to close 2027 at 27.9% of GDP, a level that he said was one of the lowest in Latin America, and “one of the main indicators of the stability of national public finances”. He also said that Q70.6bn of the current budget had been executed as of 25 June, representing 41.5% of the total, and an increase of 11.3% on the same period in 2025.

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