Chile's Dirección de Presupuestos (Dipres) reported that the Government's gross debt hit US$158.215 billion by the end of Q1 2026, or 42.6% of GDP. Fiscal cash reserves fell to US$597 million, as fiscal revenues rose 0.9% in real annual terms and public spending 0.7%. The report notes heterogeneous performance driven by mining.
Chile's Q1 2026 Fiscal Execution Report, released by Dipres under José Pablo Gómez, outlines the country's fiscal position. Fiscal revenues rose 0.9% in real annual terms from January to March, driven by a 71.7% surge in mining collections (3.7 percentage point impact), pension contributions, and Codelco transfers. Collections from other taxpayers fell 6.1% in real terms, or 1.0% excluding a prior year's transitory effect.
March revenues totaled $6.075 billion, up 3.9% in real annual terms, boosted by private mining (75.5%) despite a 7.0% drop in non-mining. Non-tax revenues grew 27.3%, due to lower disability subsidies. Dipres noted that “the recent evolution of fiscal revenues continues characterized by heterogeneous performance, where mining's boost contrasts with declines from other contributors”.
Public spending reached $20.698 billion, up 0.7% from 2025, with current spending rising 2.7% and capital spending falling 13.8%. In March, spending increased 5.1%, but public investment dropped 26%. Gross debt climbed to 42.6% of GDP from 41.5% at end-2025, with fiscal cash at US$597 million, down 83% from February but above year-end 2025.
The central government's balance showed a 0.6% of GDP deficit for the quarter (-US$2.303 billion) and 0.5% in March.
