Ekip
15 October 2016•Update: 16 October 2016
By Senabri Silvestre
SANTO DOMINGO, Dom. Rep.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday approved a national budget by decree rather than approval of the parliament, local media reported.
Maduro signed the 8.4 trillion bolivar budget ($8.4 billion) in the presence of Cabinet members and hundreds of followers, according to the Viewer newspaper.
"Here is the 2017 budget law and the law on debts,” Maduro said, asking “for the support of the people" in a public ceremony held outside of the National Pantheon in Caracas.
The budget is more than five times that of 2016 amid high inflation.
The signed document was taken to the headquarters of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (TSJ) despite the refusal of the opposition that had decried the measure as unconstitutional.
The TSJ, the highest court, on Thursday allowed the budget to be presented at the court to overcome a technicality.
It declared the National Assembly in contempt of court in January when members of parliament swore in three ineligible lawmakers. The ruling prevents the assembly from carrying out its functions under the law.
The latest decision by the TSJ came after Maduro asked the court’s president, Gladys Gutierrez, for a solution to keep the government operational.
