[{"bbox": [83, 113, 1120, 168], "category": "Text", "text": "(SDG). Accordingly, in its last virtual mission (November 2020), the IMF's staff called for consistent efforts in revenue mobilisation over the medium term to maintain fiscal sustainability."}, {"bbox": [83, 193, 1120, 381], "category": "Text", "text": "Regarding Human Rights, there has been a negative trend in the last year, as the institutional framework has weakened. In fact, the Government of Guatemala closed three key entities related to human rights: 1) the Presidential Commission on Human Rights (COPREDEH); 2) the Secretariat of Peace (SEPAZ); and 3) the Secretariat of Agrarian Affairs (SAA). All of which, were merged into a new Presidential Commission for Peace and Human Rights (COPADEH), whose scope, responsibilities, functioning and budget have not yet been defined. Corruption is also an important challenge, with Guatemala ranking 149 out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perception Index in 2020,"}, {"bbox": [83, 406, 1120, 725], "category": "Text", "text": "The EU proposes three priority areas for Guatemala to be supported financially by the proposed Multiannual Indicative Programme (MIP) 2021 - 2027: 1) Green Deal; 2) Sustainable and inclusive growth; 3) Good Governance and Human Development. This proposal is fully consistent with the European Commission's five strategic priorities on International Partnerships and specifically seeks the involvement of Guatemala in global challenges that require international collaboration such as the fight against climate change, environmental protection, inclusive and sustainable social and economic development and strengthening of public institutions. Furthermore, the EU considers that digitalisation, science, technology and innovation (fourth strategic priority) are essential instruments to achieve the objectives and results of the MIP. They are also fundamental for Guatemala to respond to the challenges it faces in meeting the goals set in its National Development Plan, the K'atun 2032, which together with the current Government's General Policy 2020-2024 constitute the national long-term development policy. Moreover, the achievement of the objectives set in the MIP is expected to have a positive impact on the EU's fifth strategic priority on migration, by addressing some of its root causes."}, {"bbox": [83, 750, 1120, 990], "category": "Text", "text": "Institutional weakness is a key factor behind the main challenges affecting the country and its population. Any credible process towards structural reforms needs strong institutions, effective regulations and procedures and an efficient civil service. Years of underinvestment in public services and social and economic infrastructure have led to increased inequalities and gaps in access to public services. Moreover, poverty and other root causes of high rates of malnutrition in the country need to be addressed, especially for people living in vulnerable situations. This will come at a significant cost, which will require Guatemala to obtain additional resources and prioritise public investment in these areas. In fact, increasing domestic revenue mobilisation (DRM) is necessary to close the funding gap between the Government of Guatemala's own national development goals, which aim to enhance equitable and sustainable improvements in social and economic development, as well as achieving SDG targets."}, {"bbox": [83, 1015, 1120, 1149], "category": "Text", "text": "Along this line, the “collect more, spend better” statement in the Consensus sets the path towards strengthening public financial management (PFM) and tax administrations in middle-income countries (MICs) such as Guatemala. The increase of DRM directly contributes to support macroeconomic and fiscal stability frameworks addressing most of the 5 P’s of the Consensus, specifically by providing enough resources for inclusive growth (People and Prosperity)."}, {"bbox": [83, 1174, 1120, 1494], "category": "Text", "text": "Since 2016, the Government of Guatemala with support from international financial institutions, namely the IMF, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the World Bank (WB), has invested in improving the professional competence of the Tax Policy Directorate in the Ministry of Finance (MINFIN) and the Tax Administration Authority (SAT). Authorities started the gradual implementation of revenue mobilisation measures, such as the establishment of an internal affairs/investigation unit within the SAT, gradual implementation of the e-invoice, definition of a compliance framework, and strengthening customs controls, among others. SAT has also received support in the last few years from other donors, notably the IMF's regional centre for technical assistance to Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic, which is co-financed by the EU (CAPTAC-DR), USAID, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) and more recently, GIZ. Currently, the EU along with the IMF, WB, IADB, USAID, OTA and the UN system participates in the Fiscal working group (Mesa Fiscal), which coordinates cooperation programmes related to the fiscal agenda of the main donors with MINFIN."}, {"bbox": [109, 1537, 348, 1569], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.2. Problem Analysis"}, {"bbox": [83, 1608, 302, 1635], "category": "Text", "text": "Short problem analysis:"}, {"bbox": [1115, 1638, 1129, 1659], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "6"}]