He Finance Minister Ricardo Bonillasaid that the addition to the budget will no longer be $23 billion, but it will drop to $14.7 trillion and that the resources will be prioritized for expenses in sectors that allow to face the deceleration of the economy.
He assured that the discussion around the dividends corresponding to the earnings in 2022 of Ecopetrol entangled the discussion of the addition and what is wanted is “take out a transparent addition and we decided to separate the two topics”.
(Government says that not all of the planned budget addition is needed.)
Actually the payment of Fepec (Fund for Stabilization of Fuel Prices) it has nothing to do with a budget addition or a crossing of accounts with dividends, Bonilla said.
(Banco de la República once again raised its GDP forecast to 1%).
“The dividends are within the budget approved in 2023 and the payment of Fepec for COP 18 billion is already incorporated into the expense, so it is not necessary to cross accounts. We will come to an agreement with Ecopetrol at a joint table with the Ministry of Finance, to examine the issues and make the figures transparent and show the country what is in this”.
He said that $21 billion in dividend income from Ecopetrol and $18 billion in spending by Fepec are budgeted, and he assured that The approval of an extraordinary dividend will depend on Ecopetrol.
(Well-being, the priority for the Colombian consumer).
He announced that the budget addition of $23 trillion will now be $14.7 trillion against certain income and the effective possibility that national entities execute in the second half of the year.
(Hotel sector: this is the outlook for the holiday season)
“The budget addition will be approved in June and the resources will begin to be executed in July. Removing the guarantee law, the issue is what is really going to be executed and that is why it was lowered to $14.7 billion” Well, what was initially estimated was that it be approved in February. And he estimated that its use will be prioritized to recover housing, public works and agriculture, among other issues.
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