The real estate assets of the Instituto de Previsión Social (IPS), Paraguay’s social security and public health institution, accumulated an estimated financial loss of G. 65.5 billion (about US$10 million) between 2023 and 2025, according to an audit by the Comptroller General’s Office. The result stems from returns below the actuarial benchmark rate and problems with occupancy and rent collection.
At the end of 2025, the IPS administered 929 real estate units with a book value of G. 1.97 trillion, nearly US$304 million, equivalent to 9.9% of its total investment portfolio. Properties intended for rental generated average returns of 0.46% in 2023, 1.09% in 2024 and 0.92% in 2025, below the 2% actuarial rate used as the benchmark for investments of the Common Retirement and Pension Fund’s reserves.
The Comptroller General’s Office said the difference reduced the properties’ contribution to financing pension obligations and affected the system’s solvency and actuarial sustainability. The agency recommended that the IPS accelerate judicial collection of debts, monitor the proceedings and open an internal investigation to determine responsibility.
The review also identified 172 units in precarious occupancy, compared with only 169 actually rented. Another 90 properties were involved in court proceedings and 482 were listed as available. At the Yuquyry Building in Ciudad del Este, 108 of the 110 recorded occupants were considered precarious. At Paraná Country Club, a unit listed as available was occupied without payments, while other properties showed signs of abandonment.
Public institutions’ unpaid rent totaled G. 28.489 billion at the end of 2025. The cases cited include the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the National Emergency Secretariat, the Municipality of Villa Elisa, the Council for the Trial of Magistrates, the Ministry of Women and the Municipality of Encarnación. The Public Prosecutor’s Office’s debt alone, including the financial return that was not obtained over one year, represented an estimated impact of G. 12.004 billion.
The problem also appears in the attempt to develop the 327 lots in the Cantegrill condominium in San Bernardino, which account for most of the IPS’s 483 properties intended for rental. Valued at G. 109.081 billion and spread across about 46 hectares, only six current contracts generate G. 25 million per month. The Board of Directors authorized the rental process to move forward, but required studies of the land’s real value, net present value, discount rate and any grace period before approving the final tender documents.
At the same session, Isaías Fretes, former IPS president and current Health Minister, said that the survey of the institution’s lands and farms in the Chaco had been completed after an operation involving military personnel, surveyors and drones provided by the MADES environment ministry. Fretes said he had found “irregularities resulting from negligence” in an area of approximately 54,000 square kilometers and asked his successor, Derlis León, to visit the territory personally. The statements point to new lines of inquiry but do not detail which assets or individuals might be involved.