Sharjah24 – AFP: Guatemala's legislature on Monday backed away from approving a business-friendly 2021 budget after demonstrators in the Central American nation torched the Congress building and demanded the resignation of President Alejandro Giammattei in weekend protests.

A lack of resources for battling the coronavirus pandemic as well as anger over the new spending plan has fueled widespread indignation against Giammattei's administration and Congress.

"In order to maintain the governability of the country and social peace, we have agreed to suspend the processing of the budget," said Congress president Allan Rodriguez.

The suspension would create "space for discussion of the country's governance," he said.

Guatemala's only state-run university, the University of San Carlos, had earlier called for a national strike on Monday. 

Meanwhile, powerful farmers' union Codeca appeared to back away from an earlier call for its members to block roads around the country.

Congress, dominated by conservative pro-government parties, last week approved an almost $13 billion budget, the largest in the country's history.

With the suspension, lawmakers now have until November 30 to approve a new budget, otherwise the government will continue to operate under the existing budget of $10.4 billion.