During the last day of the 56th Banking Convention held in Cartagena by Asobancaria, the Minister of Finance, José Antonio Ocampo, in his speech, touched on the issues of inflation, the tax on ultra-processed foods and the 4×1000 tax
The holder of the portfolio maintained that the country has already reached the peak of inflation. “Food prices have started to fall internationally. This is the impact that has begun to be reflected in the inflation of many countries and we hope that we will be part of that trend, so I have the opinion that we have reached the peak and we are going to begin to observe it in a very slow in a downward trend of inflation”, he sentenced.
“Inflation in food is at 25%, which is a very high level, we trust that it will begin to have a positive trend in the coming months. The data provided by the Banco de la República on the real interest rate, with total inflation continues to be negative but with basic inflation it becomes positive”, Ocampo pointed out.
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On the other hand, the Minister of Finance referred to the issue of 4×1000, Ocampo indicated that this tax will be maintained during the government of Gustavo Petro. “This tax continues. Spot. There is no way to replace it. We have five or six governments and none of us have had an interesting alternative to replace it with another source of income”, he said.
Regarding the tax on ultra-processed foods, Ocampo emphasized that “we may rationalize it a bit, the tax will go to Congress for discussion, they will be the ones to determine. There are already many public health sectors that have said that these taxes should be maintained, there is a lot of opposition to the Government. Some companies are willing to collaborate, not all are against it, that’s why we’re working on it. There is much less opposition to the tax on sugary drinks than on ultra-processed foods.”
