The approval of the amount of the General Budget of the Nation (PGN) last week by the economic commissions of Congress, left the government of Gustavo Petro $405.62 billion to finance his policy in 2023.
(Read: Keys to the proposal to lower salaries and vacations for congressmen).
And there, the agricultural sector was the one that saw the greatest increase in its budget, with a $2 billion addition to next year’s budget. The portfolio and its entities were left with a total amount of $4.2 trillion, a figure that grew by 62.4%, compared to the money budgeted for 2022, which was $2.5 trillion in total.
According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cecilia López, the increase corresponds to 96.6% of what was initially requested. “The execution is going to be very challenging for a Ministry and some institutions that have been marginalized, without much support and now they have become the axis”, pointed out the portfolio manager.
And just as the addition for this ministry is the highest in the budget project, different sectors and experts in the field of agriculture showed sor optimism regarding the increase in the amount and they open the expectations towards where these resources could be allocated.
For Andrés Valencia Rincón, former Minister of Agriculture (2018-2020), any increase in the portfolio will be positive given that, “the ministry has always had little participation in the budget, therefore it is good, as long as they are executed and the investment does not go to personnel plants, but rather to the entities that have been executing different processes, such as the National Agency of land, among others”.
Similarly, the former Minister of Finance (1998-2000) and former Minister of Agriculture (2010-2013), Juan Camilo Restrepo, assures that “this increase is what will give financial support for the start, with great push, of the agrarian programs of this government.
Farmers
In accordance with Jorge Bedoya, president of the SAC“there are great expectations regarding the materialization of the budget in terms of public goods, support for rural women and the use of resources for agricultural insurance.”
(Keep reading: How viable is it to implement Petro’s pension proposal?).
The expectations regarding the execution of the budget are maintained, for Rafael Hernández, manager of Fedearroz, “It is important to see how these resources are going to be allocated. We hope to be able to meet soon with the minister to talk about the future and that they listen to the programs that we have from our sector”.
For its part, German Palacio, general manager of Fedepapa, He stated: “We really like that the budget has been doubled. We propose that there be control over the prices of agricultural inputs, a preferential dollar for imports, and work must be done on marketing (…) First, we must fix what we have and make the producers competitive, turn them into entrepreneurs, before putting to produce more.”
For Jeffrey Fajardo, executive resident of Porkcolombia, “The country has a large pending task in relation to the construction of tertiary roads, irrigation districts, fertilization and public goods for agricultural development.”
According to José Felix Lafaurie, president of Fedegan, “the resources should be allocated to technical assistance, since it is what the farmer needs.”
(See: The sectors that will have money additions in the 2023 Budget).
Diana K. Rodriguez T.
