Uruguay to Digitally Transform Fiscal Management with IDB Support

Uruguay will launch a digital transformation of its fiscal management, backed by a $20 million loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This program aims to enhance fiscal management through more efficient spending, public procurement, and tax collection.

The program’s actions to improve public expenditure management include strengthening and transforming the Integrated Financial Information System, which is the tool used to manage the national budget and accountability reporting. The program will also work to enhance and overhaul the Government Resource Planning Platform, which automates government agencies’ administrative management processes and measure institutional production costs.

Additionally, the loan aims to bolster digital processes for managing public procurement, funding a new technological platform within the State Acquisitions and Procurement System that includes new controls and validations for processes and helps enhance competitive bidding processes.

The program will also help the tax authority perform mass data management tasks using artificial intelligence and improve the way other government revenue is managed.

The 120 executive units of the central government will directly benefit from the systems for managing spending, procurement, and taxes that are all combined into a single platform, which will lower costs and save money.

Uruguay’s population will also benefit from receiving better digitalized services, as will companies that do business with the government, which will be able to access the public procurement portal more easily and will enjoy more transparency. Women and disabled people in particular will benefit indirectly from progress on gender budget tagging and electronic bid specifications with a focus on gender and inclusion.

The $20 million IDB loan will have 24.5-year repayment term, a six-year grace period, and an interest rate based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR). The program has a $4.4 million local counterpart contribution.