Economic characters of 2022

In the intense debate that began to generate the arrival of the first leftist government, for the tax reform and for being key to calming the markets, the Minister of Finance, José Antonio Ocampo, is the economic figure of the year.

Below are the most representative characters of the year for Portfolio:

José Antonio Ocampo, the head of the Treasury portfolio since August 7, He stood out especially for passing the most ambitious tax reform the country has seen, which expects to collect $19.7 trillion in 2023, and for achieving the approval of the budget for the other year for $405.6 billion.

But Ocampo’s role has gone further, since the economist has put out more than one “fire” in these five months that he has been in charge of the Treasury, by sending messages of calm on issues such as financial management, sabout possible capital control, monetary policy, and even the energy transition.

The arrival of Gustavo Petro marked a historical milestone for being the first left-wing president that Colombia has.

The president arrived at the Casa de Nariño with the proposal to modify the economic model of the country, going from an economy based especially on oil and coal, to an economy more focused on agriculture and the environment.

The president also managed to approve a tax reform that seeks a more redistributive system, and for the remainder of his government intends to also reform pensionsthe labor and health system, among other changes.

In May the Colombian platform Habi, Founded by entrepreneurs Brynne Mcnulty Rojas and Sebastián Noguera, it managed to establish itself as the second Colombian unicorn, after raising US$200 million of capital in its Series C investment round.

Founded at the end of 2019, Today Habi operates in more than 15 cities in Colombia and Mexico.

In addition, this proptech has different products for users, ranging from the direct purchase of used housing, to the free valuation of any property and financial services to access a mortgage credit, among other services.

The industrialist Jaime Gilinski Bacal was one of the economic characters of 2022.

Since the end of 2021, he began a strategy to try to buy shares in Grupo Nutresa and Grupo Sura through six public offerings takeovers (takeover bids) in which he was relatively successful in buying 32% stakes, which gave him three seats on the board of directors.

Subsequently, with the help of his partner from Abu Dhabi, he tried to buy a part of Grupo Argos but failed as he received acceptances below his minimum goal. Few believe that the industry to sit idly by when it comes to purchasing in the future.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell He was the commander of an upward interest rate policy led by the monetary entity to control the historic inflation that detonated in the world’s main economy for a good part of this year.

The Fed, as it is also known, was the central body that commanded the escalation of rates worldwide, followed by the European Central Bank and other national entities high level, including the Bank of England.

However, it received criticism for the delay in starting this policy, which had already been carried out a year earlier from other latitudes, such as in Latin America. It is expected that in 2023 the entity will relax -even more- the rate of increases.

The president of the National Association of Entrepreneurs Colombia, Andi, Bruce Mac Master, faced all the headwinds that blew for the private sector this year.

Especially, he played it thoroughly in favor of the interests of businessmen throughout the process of debate and approval of the tax reform.

His position led to strong debates, a criticism from the Minister of Finance, José Antonio Ocampo, and even rumors of an alleged interest in participating in politics.

And, despite the fact that the tax reform did not satisfy Andi or the businessmen, Mac Master was ratified until 2025 with the full support of the board of directors of the main union in the country, and with the endorsement to star in the controversies that will arise with the reforms that are on the way.

amidst winds of recession and a global energy crisis, the price of oil had prices above estimates.

This led companies in the sector to have historic results. In the case of Ecopetrol, with a cut-off to the third quarter, it reached $27 billion in net profit, exceeding by $9.9 billion the result of last year.

Not only that, Felipe Bayón, at the helm of the largest company in the country, also managed to bring the average production at pre-pandemic levels, close to 720,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

In addition to this, the exploratory success in the offshore gas province, which according to Bayón, could double the country’s gas reserves.

President Fedegan stood out in this 2022 due to the union’s agreement with the National Government and the Ministry of Agriculture, in the purchase of 3 million hectares of cattle lands in the process of the Rural and Integral Agrarian Reform.

On occasions, he has stated that it is important to go beyond the purchase of land, where the sale would be subject to market rules and the prices that the government raises and is willing to buy are what the seller would be willing to sell.

The 64-year-old samarium also has pronounced to the speculations of the agreement. He has stated that they will “deaf ears to those poisoned reactions”.

Today Lafaurie appears as one of the negotiators in the peace process with the ELN.

The controversial businessman Elon Musk was the protagonist of the front pages worldwide for a good part of the year for the strenuous novel about the acquisition of Twitter Inc, company owned by the homonymous social network and for which the businessman manages a sarcastic tone of conversation. Finally, after judicial pressure, Musk finalized the purchase for US$44,000 million and began a series of modifications that, like everything expected, are not exempt from questioning.

Recently, after this purchase, for which Musk put money out of his pocket, the eccentric businessman fell from the top position as the millionaire richest in the world, leaving the place for Arnold Bernault, CEO of LVMH.

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