The Minister of Finance José Manuel Restrepo filed before the Congress of the Republic the General Budget of the Nation for the year 2023 for 391.4 billion pesos.
Restrepo explained that said budget includes the cost of servicing the public debt for $78 billion and $19.1 billion to cover the deficit of the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund.
When submitting to the consideration of the Congress of the Republic said initiative, Minister Restrepo assured that this budget will guarantee that the country reach a primary fiscal surplus of 0.1% of GDP again in 2023, a result not seen since 2019.
Of this figure, $250.6 billion corresponds to operating expenses, $78 billion to the payment of debt service and $62.8 billion to investment.
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“This government began a process of adjusting public finances, reaching the first fiscal surplus in seven years, with which it would be possible to reduce the financing needs of public debt to 6.7% of GDP in 2023, when they are normally 8.2%,” he recalled.
“The draft budget for 2023 was carried out under strict criteria of operational austerity, in line with compliance with the fiscal rule and overcoming the economic and social consequences left by the pandemic,” the statement said.
89.4% of the investment budget resources are concentrated in the social inclusion and reconciliation sectors (25.36%); transportation (15.39%); finance (10.94%); education (8.31%) and work (7.36%) .
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Likewise, for the mining and energy sector, it was allocated (6.86%); housing, city and territory (3.71%); defense and police (3.21%); planning (2.34%); agriculture and rural development (2.10%); information and communication technologies (2.02%) and health and social protection (1.83%).
This budget also includes resources to finance programs such as Colombia Mayor, Jovenes en Acción, Familias en Acción and VAT compensation, in addition to meeting the needs of households in situations of poverty and vulnerability throughout the national territory.
The Minister of Finance concluded that it should be taken into account that 2023 will be the first year of management of a new Government and that the budget programming responsibly took this situation into account, in order to facilitate the adjustments proposed by the incoming administration, especially in the context of the policy initiatives and the priorities of its government program.
