Pandemic Encourages Low-Tax Paraguay to Build Its Welfare State
- Paraguay seeks to bring 770,000 workers into formal economy
- Government still needs $350 million for Covid-19 recovery plan
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The coronavirus pandemic is forcing Paraguay President Mario Abdo Benitez to expand welfare in one of the countries with the lowest tax incomes in South America.
For that, the government wants to convince as many as 770,000 workers to leave the shadow economy and start paying taxes, according to Finance Minister Benigno Lopez. Formalizing more of the workforce would also make it easier for the government to help people in future crisis, he said.