The appointment of former Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla Barrera as a member of the Board of Directors of Banco de la República last year was annulled by the Council of State considering that the quota law was not complied with by ignoring Article 4 of Law 581 of the year 2000.
(Read: Banrep Manager regrets the withdrawal of Carrasquilla from the board of directors).
The decision of the then president of Colombia, Iván Duque, had already been ruled and the appointment was maintained, but this new decision changes the meaning of the first pronouncement and lThe ruling will enter into force once Carrasquilla is officially notified.
The Political Constitution is the one that establishes that the co-directors of the Issuer are always appointed by the President of the Republic who is in office, when their four-year renewable terms expire (maximum three), that is, they could be in the bank for up to 12 years.
In chapter VI of the Political Constitution, which deals with the Central Bank of the country, article 372 establishes that the board of directors of the Banco de la República is made up of seven members, including the Minister of Finance, who is in charge of chair it, and the Issuer’s manager.
Currently these positions are held by José Antonio Ocampo and Leonardo Villar.
(In addition: Banco de la República maintains that inflation will return to 3% in 2024).
According to the political letter, the manager of the central bank will be chosen by the board of directors and will be a member of it. “The remaining five full-time members will be appointed by the President of the Republic for renewable periods of four years, two of them replaced every four years.“, says the article.
Now it will be up to President Gustavo Petro to make the decision of who occupies the chair of Carrasquilla taking into account what was said by the Council of State when considering that there are five members of exclusive dedication, “the gender quota of 30 percent is met with two women.”
How are the appointments made?
It must be taken into account that if a co-director of the Issuer resigns before the end of his four-year term, the President of the Republic must also name his replacement. One of those references is that of the resignation of José Antonio Ocampo at the end of 2019, and who had been appointed by Santos in February 2017, replacing César Vallejo.
In the process of appointing the co-directors there are two key people: the Minister of Finance and the President. The minister manages the fiscal policy that must be coordinated with monetary policyas indicated in the Constitution, and the latter is the responsibility of the central bank.
(See: Core inflation? What is it and how will the Government use it in the crisis).
The first to contact the optioned is the minister of the moment and later by the President, they must also have more than one option in case for some reason reason the first choice does not accept.
There are two main factors for the co-directors to be chosen, the first is the career they have done and the knowledge they have.
TIME
