Did the Government increase its spending on contracts for the provision of services?

The councilor of Bogotá, Daniel Briceño, made a complaint regarding a alleged increase in service provision contracts by the National Government. According to the official, this situation would contradict the Executive’s intentions to reduce public spending by compromising the country’s resources.

(Read more: Uncertainty over rates and the dollar continues to affect market optimism)

Briceño pointed out that during the Petro administration’s management period, 229,128 contracts have been signed under this modality. whose total value amounts to $9.14 billion. Of that amount, in 2024 the highest expenditure on contracting would have been recorded, reaching a figure of $4.83 trillion, which translates into an increase of 23.7% compared to the previous year.

The lobbyist also highlighted that, compared to 2022, the number of contracts increased by 51%, which is equivalent to 37,500 new contracts in just two years. The data would also show that the hiring dynamics in this Government It would be equivalent to signing 253 contracts a day and, in terms of spending, three times the annual budget of Valle del Cauca.

“While they promise to end bureaucratic quotas, the truth is that the State has become bigger and more wasteful than ever,” he highlighted in a live broadcast in which he presented this complaint.

(More news: Declaration of economic emergency and internal commotion would repeat past mistakes)

(Read more: These are the 5 cities with the best quality of life in Latin America, according to a study)

Along the same lines, Briceño mentioned some of the entities that would be contributing more to these figures. These would include the National Land Agency (ANT), as the one that would have allocated the most resources in this type of contracting, with $714,000 million distributed in 17,174 contracts.

Next, would be the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), with around 4,000 contracts, with a value that would exceed $417,000 million.

Given this panorama, the councilor called on the Petro government to rethink its priorities, remembering that “Colombia needs a small and efficient State that boosts the private sector instead of drowning citizens with more taxes.” Likewise, he reiterated that excessive and uncontrolled spending on contracts is not only irresponsible, but also reflects “a total disregard for the austerity and transparency that the country so needs.”

(More news: How contracts for the provision of services work and in which cases they can change)

PORTFOLIO