Colombian President Gustavo Petro held a lunch with the presidents of the 30 banks, Asobancaria, and the Administrative Department of the Presidency (Dapre), to analyze a possible forced investment agreement to grant loans with better conditions to certain social sectors.
(You may be interested in: Petro defends forced investments as a mechanism to reactivate production).
It was established that if there is an agreement, the Government would not present a project to Congress to establish forced investments in priority sectors such as agriculture, tourism and construction.
The Economic Council was attended by members of the National Government team, such as the Minister of Finance, Ricardo Bonilla, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Luis Carlos Reyes Hernández, the director of the National Planning Department, Alexander López and the Financial Superintendent, César Ferrari.
Other members of the banking sector also attended.
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During the meeting, A $50 billion proposal for priority sectors was reviewed.
Laura Sarabia, director of Dapre, said that next week they will meet again to define the details and reach a final agreement.
“We talked with the financial sector. We made progress on the proposal of $50 billion for priority sectors and strategic investments within the framework of the country’s economic reactivation. We will meet in eight days to fine-tune the final details and finalize a definitive agreement.”the government official said.
(Besides: Forced investments are a risky path that could make credit more expensive).
For his part, Jonathan Malagón González, president of Asobancaria, stated that “The meeting was a constructive, frank and proactive conversation between the banks and the national government, where we evaluated the financing mechanisms for the economic recovery plan, for the reactivation plan”.
The union leader assured that the conversation has not concluded because several aspects emerge “Well, it is a deep conversation in the best of terms”.
He concluded by saying that the conversation will continue next Tuesday to evaluate the issues and things that were put on the table and we will report on the alternatives that will be implemented.
Holman Rodriguez Martinez
PORTFOLIO