02/2018: Out With the Old, In With the New – Part II

The Government’s Revised Fiscal Plan stumbles on assumptions

Economic modeling is both science and art. Failure to take this seriously leads to wrong decision-making scenarios in PR. If that was acceptable in the past, it is not at present. Old ways relied on a relatively stable population to forecast growth and fiscal revenues. As per the revised fiscal plan, this appears not to be the case. Old ways relied on government revenues forecasted, in many cases, as trend of past collections. Now, these revenues must be tied to demographics and economic growth in the aftermath of hurricane Maria. Old ways relied on GNP growth forecasts by the PR Planning Board. Now, the forecasts in the fiscal plan need to use a coherent economic model of PR’s economy rather than mere assumptions with irreconcilable results. This issue questions the assumptions and results of the most recently revised Central Government Fiscal Plan.