Ricardo Bonilla served as Minister of Finance in the government of Gustavo Petro from April 27, 2023 until December 4, 2024, when it was the same president who asked him for the resignationarguing that, for avoid that the academic fall into traps laid, “by the extreme financial right and its politicians and the big mafia, I prefer that the doctor in economics, naive for not having political practice, resigns“.
This situation occurs in the middle of the biggest corruption scandal that has occurred in this government, that of the National Risk and Disaster Management Unit (UNGRD), in which the former director of the entity, Olmedo López, as well as other figures in national politics, such as the former Minister of the Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco, have been named; and the former director of Dapre, Carlos Ramón González; and Bonilla himself, among others.
(See more: Diego Guevara, appointed by President Petro as the new Minister of Finance)
GSP reform
It is noteworthy that the former head of the economic portfolio faced several key moments during his time in office, among the latest events is the reform of the General Participation Systemthat is, the money that is sent to the regions; an initiative that seeks to double the percentage so that they go from receiving 23.8% to 46.5% of the General Budget of the Nation.
“What we are saying from the Ministry of Finance is that the version that came out in the fifth debate of Congress is absolutely unsustainable. That we must work on making a large number of modifications and that is what we seek to agree from the Government“said Bonilla at the end of October of this year.
Ricardo Bonilla.
Financing law
Another important issue is the financing law promoted by the Treasury portfolio, headed by the outgoing Bonilla, who stated: “Yes, additional resources are being sought, but they are being sought in the loopholes left by the tax statute, correcting historical errors that this norm has, setting and leveling the table in terms of different aspects.”.
(See more: The allegations in the UNGRD case against former Minister Bonilla)
At this point, Bonilla insisted, at the end of November, that this is not a tax reform and was emphatic that If this law is approved, the costs will be lower and that over time it has been shown that the economy is resilient and will not be affected by this rule.
With this project, the aim is to raise at least $12 billion in 2025. The proposal maintains the surcharge on coal and oil income and would not touch the VAT on exempt and excluded products (food from the family basket) nor will the threshold for filers be lowered. as natural personal.
The initiative seeks refinance current debts to free up spending space and advance the fiscal rule, and was one of the most criticized by former Minister Bonilla. In fact, with his departure from the portfolio, the most likely thing that will happen is that he will not continue his course in the Congress of the Republic.
General Budget of the Nation
Bonilla González pointed out at the beginning of November that, at the end of the year, the General Budget of the Nation (PGN) of 2024 has a commitment of 72%, of which 63% has already been executed and 61% has been paid. Likewise, he explained that the difference between the commitment and execution percentages is in the investment, in which the dynamics of Budget management make this happen.
Furthermore, Bonilla asserted that the Budget for 2025 will be set at $523 billionbecause Congress did not approve any modifications, the Government can only work with the budget that was initially proposed.
Debate amount of the General Budget of the Nation.
Courtesy – Minhacienda
Fiscal framework
According to him, they were far above what they should have and, thanks to this, gave way to the fiscal crisis that is currently being experienced.
“Concurrently, we are going to the situation that there was a gap in the tax collection projections, the collection perspective for the year 2024 is not going to be achieved and that means having to make an adjustment in spending. This adjustment has already been authorized in the Council of Ministers, it is for $20 billion and is allowing it to come out of the decree, establishing what the composition is.“, said the former minister at that time.
In that thread, for next year’s spending projections A mechanism for calculating the allowed deficit is proposed one year earlier than planned, that is, in 2024 instead of 2025, so that the national government can access more resources through greater indebtedness, which means, increasing the deficit by 0.3% of GDP, this would be equivalent to spending $5.3 trillion more.
For Bonilla, this would take advantage of the country’s good fiscal performance, seeking to provide relief from the cash squeeze that is being overcome.
VALENTINA DELGADILLO ABELLO
Journalist Portfolio
