He Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Ricardo Bonillarecently spoke about the proposal of the President Gustavo Petro that the Bank of the Republic issue more banknotes with the aim of providing compensation to the victims of the country’s internal armed conflict.
“I once proposed it amidst ignorant mockery in journalism and the right. The annual issuance quota made by the Bank of the Republic should, in cash or bonds, be directed in the first instance to the long list of victims of violence in Colombia. This means that for a period of 10 to 15 years, the seigniorage of the issuance would pass from the financial sector to the victims of violence. A fact that has examples in other places in the world and that is unique in a country that has lived 75 years under violence.“, assured the head of State, in his X account.
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The Attorney General’s Office, Comptroller’s Office and Ombudsman’s Office say that reparations for victims would cost 334 billion pesos and that the program is delayed.
They are right.
With 2 billion pesos invested annually in repairing victims, it would take us 150 years to repair them.
This is one of… pic.twitter.com/FspYAgWpuT
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) August 28, 2024
Bonilla, in statements to ‘La FM’, said that It is important that this discussion takes place in this country, in order to evaluate where the extra resources can be obtained to make a comprehensive repair..
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Under that logic, the minister said: “(…) the other way is more taxes, but it comes from the same discussion, how much capacity do we Colombians have to provide the resources for this reparation? This would be an extraordinary discussion that would have to be raised if we really want to reach a country with a peace process and resolution of victims.“.
Ricardo Bonilla, Minister of Finance and Public Credit
It is worth clarifying that, recently, the Attorney General of the Nation, Margarita Cabellosaid that the country must give greater priority to reparations for the more than nine million known victims of the armed conflict.
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He added that to achieve this, The National Government would need around 334 billion pesos and that it is necessary for entities to be more agile in this process.
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