Comptroller General Carlos Hernán Rodríguez presented before the Accounts and Ethics Commission of the Congress of the Republic the statement of public finances.
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In his speech, the official warned of the irregularities that are recorded in the allocation of the Budget and that prevent determining the real expenditure of resources. Reason why he called to improve the efficiency of public spending, in order to “prevent tax reforms from being implemented that produce revenue, which in the end will not be used effectively.”
To better illustrate the above, according to the report presented by the Comptroller’s Office, in 2023 the amount of the General Budget of the Nation (PGN) was set at $405.63 billion. Although with the adjustments that were applied this ended up escalating to $423 billion, the additional resources were not executed, resulting in a loss of appropriation.
Next year, the amount of the PGN is expected to reach $523.7 billion pesos, of which $13 billion would be generated through the financing bill that the National Government has been promoting in the Legislature. Regarding this initiative, Rodríguez He emphasized the need for this not to put economic reactivation at risk.
“Correct budgeting is essential to avoid fiscal imbalances, appropriation losses and underexecution of resources (…) It is essential that this financing law respects the principle of progressivity. It is worth emphasizing that in the last 20 years, 12 reforms to the tax statute have been approved that have not managed to close the State’s financing gaps,” he assured.
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Colombian money
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Application of future validity
The comptroller general highlighted that within the budget execution this section represents 12% of the total budget without debt and which have an execution percentage of only 79%.
In that sense, he not only asked “execute the validity periods effectively and within the expected deadlines”, but also suggested that committed resources could be reallocated to other priority expenditures when necessary.
Likewise, he explained that the entity has made findings regarding practices that distort the registration of certain operations in the PGN. According to Rodríguez, “debt issues to pay court rulings or account crossings between Ecopetrol and the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund are not correctly recorded.”
In that order of ideas, he stressed that without an accurate record, shortcomings that are also incurred with the management of resources through trusts, the real use of state money cannot be determined. “These practices generate a disconnection between what really happens and what the official figures show, affecting transparency and correct budget management”he added.
Considering all of the above, the official called for correcting these irregularities and thus guaranteeing transparency in the accounts.
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PORTFOLIO
*With information from EL TIEMPO – JUSTICIA
