After the National Government confirmed that the freezing of expenses, for $20 billion, in the 2024 Budget that it announced in the first semester, was finally going to materialize at $28.3 billion, according to a decree that they are about to signthe analysts’ doubt was why the CARF recommendations were not heeded.
And according to a document recently issued by the Autonomous Committee of Fiscal Rule, the country is going through a scenario in which the slowdown ended up impacting tax collection and due to this, the Nation’s income did not materialize as expected, so there was no choice but to tighten the belt.
(More news: Final decision: cut to the 2024 PGN will be $28.4 billion and not $33 billion).
Recently, the Government announced a new spending cut decree for $33 billion that would include the deferred $20 billion and would have an additional fiscal impact of $13 billion. Discounting the postponement decree already issued and the announcement of additional cuts, items in the budget still need to be adjusted for $31 billion,” the Committee said at the time.
During the presentation of the budget cut, the Minister of Finance, Ricardo Bonilla, addressed the controversy and explained why the fiscal authority was not heeded, warning that there are red lines in the Government, outlined by President Petro, focused mainly on social spending, which must be respected.
Ricardo Bonilla, Minister of Finance and Public Credit
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Bonilla González explained that “there is a cordial disagreement with CARF in terms of what the magnitude of the cut is and what is necessary. We are working along the same lines of guaranteeing that the fiscal rule is not broken, being able to meet the macroeconomic objectives and in that sense the execution of what is budgetarily committed is being monitored.”
“The only thing we could cut was the budget that it was not committed and that we could identify as not committed or that we could request that the Certificates of Budget Availability be withdrawn to include it in the cut. Then we look at what is being executed, what is committed and how much remains with cash obligations for this year and next year,” he said.
For the Minister of Finance, since the need to adjust the General Budget of the Nation arose, at Casa de Nariño they were emphatic that the cut could not translate into failing to address scourges such as poverty, access to education or the fight against malnutrition.
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“The red lines are everything that has to do with the feeding program, whether it is the school feeding program or the prisoner feeding program or the feeding program for vulnerable populations, is a priority. Everything that has to do with free education is a priority,” he said.
In that sense, he made it clear that “there is another discussion about what free education means and whether Icetex is included or not. All of that is a priority and that is why I say that the whole box is being put to that. As well as everything that has to do with subsidies for the elderly, for mothers who are heads of households and attention to emergencies regarding drinking water, which are also priorities.”
Colombian pesos
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Likewise, he clarified that despite cash restrictions, he has already ensured that the resources for the National and Intercollegiate Games were delivered to the Ministry of Sports, but logistical decisions about their execution delayed some phases, so work is now being done on the new planning system for these events.
PGN 2025
It should be noted that at the time the CARF also reviewed the state of finances for next year and made it clear that the errors of the past could be repeated, since there are estimates above the proven capacities in the Budget that is about to be regulated from the Ministry of Finance, which should be adjusted through severe spending cuts.
“The projections show that the income programmed by the Government presents a high degree of uncertainty. With the information available today, a lower risk is estimated collection (compared to the Financing Law scenario) of at least $33.3 billion”they sentenced.
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