The troubles and successes in the budget addition

On Friday afternoon, the bill to add to the general budget was filed before Congress, which adds up to $25.4 trillion in expenses. A good part of the resources that will be distributed among the different sectors will go to social programs and to attend strategic sectors such as education, health and agriculture.

(There is a budget addition for $25.4 trillion: what will it be used for).

For the experts, the distribution of resources is coherent with the goals that the Government of Gustavo Petro has set, but they also point out the importance of guaranteeing a fiscal balance.

Among the items that take the largest share of the budget addition is the social inclusion sector, which will receive an additional $5.6 billion, for a total of $23.4 billion, Most of which will go to the conditional cash transfer program.

Of 31 sectors contemplated in the general budget of the nation, in 24 modifications were made in the net balance for the validity of 2023 according to the project filed by the Treasury.

(This is how the ‘cake’ of the addition to the National Budget would be distributed).

“This has two components. The budget addition, from the Financial Plan it was known that it was going to be used for current spending. The draft of the project talks about greater resources for social inclusion, $5.6 billion that will increase the subsidy programs, although the budget addition project provides many more details, it is still not clear how the transfers will be distributed”, explained Julio César Romero, chief economist at Corficolombiana.

Romero recognized that this increase in public spending, which is important, is possible thanks to the tax reform, but also thanks to the contribution of the oil sector.

“In the budget that was approved in October, it was planned to get money to pay for the gap with the FEPC, that is no longer there, it was released from the budget to increase spending on other items. It is not that it will not be paid, but that what the Government receives from Ecopetrol is being compensated”, explained the expert, who clarified that, for this reason, we are really going to have an increase of $25 billion in spending, due to taxes and Ecopetrol.

Other sectors that will also receive important additional resources are, for example, education, to whose budget $4.5 trillion will be added, and will total $59.3 trillion, as well as health, with a net increase of $3.5 billion, which will be transferred to the Adres, and with which the sector will be left with a budget of $53.8 billion.

(Budget addition: the dilemma between spending and lowering the deficit).

In the case of agriculture, $3 billion is added to the sector, for a total of $7.1 billion, especially for comprehensive rural reform.

“In this decision-making, you must always find a good message of fiscal responsibility. It must aim to guarantee compliance with the fiscal rule, and make a more accelerated responsible adjustment, but we must be realistic that the government that enters, and the country, have some social emergencies to attend to ”, indicated Carlos Sepúlveda, professor of economics at the Universidad del Rosario.

According to Sepúlveda, necessarily “We must balance the need for greater investment in agriculture with fiscal responsibility, related to reform, education and infrastructure, which are emphasis that should be marked in the focus of these additions, as well as subsidies.”

LAURA LUCIA BECERRA ELEJALDE