Presidents discretionary spending

PRESIDENT Juan Carlos Varela has spent $7.7 million in discretionary funds during his 14 months in office.

That’s  $1.5 million more than his predecessor, Ricardo Martinelli, spent million during the same period, but he has a long way to go to catch Martinelli who in five years in office exceeded the discretionary spending [$50.7 million] of the former Presidents Martín Torrijos, Mireya Moscoso and Ernesto Pérez Balladares.

According to the latest report of discretionary spending, between July 1 and Sept. 30, Varela spent $1.7 million, this included $811,000 on sports and $307,000 on medical expenses.

The spending included $620,000, or $20,000 per player, for the national soccer team’s performance in the Gold Cup.

The presidency also disbursed $130,000 to make improvements to churches in different parts of the country.

In a recent interview, Minister of the Presidency Alvaro Aleman said that the discretionary funds are used to make “social improvements” to the country. About $5 million in funds have been budgeted for next year.