Paraguay's public accounts recorded a 9.4% increase in total spending through April 2026, driven mainly by salary payments, debt service and transfers to decentralized governments. The figure was released in the Financial Situation Report of the Central Administration (Situfin), prepared by the General Treasury of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
The personal services item – which includes salaries and other civil‑service remuneration – reached G. 7.9 trillion (about US$1.296 billion) in the period, a nominal rise of 12.6% from G. 7 trillion (US$1.151 billion) in the same span of 2025. This amount represents 38.6% of all transfers made by the Treasury.
Nathalia Rodríguez Romero, economics manager at the MEF, said the increase is driven by ministries considered strategic. “Although we always see an upward trend in remuneration, this is mainly explained by entities such as the Ministry of the Interior, Health, National Defense, Education and Security,” she said during the report presentation.
On the opposite side, public investment totaled only G. 1.1 trillion (US$196.5 million) from January to April, a drop of 25.3% from G. 1.6 trillion (US$263.1 million) a year earlier. The amount allocated to works equals 15.1% of salary spending and 5.8% of total spending for the period.
The contraction was strongest in resources from public credits, which fell 27.5%, and in own institutional resources, which declined 12.8%. Transfers financed with tax revenue rose 11%.
Rodríguez Romero attributed part of the decline to an extraordinary radar purchase made in the previous fiscal year, while noting that the picture was offset by higher payments to public‑works suppliers. “We see greater execution over the last four years, which also shows efficiency in financial programming. Public investment is led by the Ministry of Works, which recorded a 9.1% increase mainly due to payments to creditors,” she detailed.