Colombia to stop investing 14 billion pesos in fighter jets

On Tuesday, May 4, the new Minister of Finance, José Manuel Restrepo, spoke of the investment of 14 billion Colombian pesos in the acquisition of fighter jets for Colombia.

Regarding the said purchase, Restrepo said this did not signify a priority for the country and added that analyze in detail each of the elements of the public treasury that involve expenditure for the national government.

Here is what the Minister of Finance said about the purchase of the fighter jets:

I asked the treasury team to start looking at the nation’s budget clause by clause. What is a priority and what is not? We did a good part of the exercise and I openly say to the Colombians: for these planes, there is no money, they are not a priority

While the Central Workers’ Unit (CUT) will call for a new national strike this Wednesday, May 5 to demand a better reinvestment of state resources before the tax reform withdrawn from Congress, new head of treasury portfolio says investment in fighter jets is unsustainable in times of economic crisis.

The Minister of Finance also assured that the new tax reform that he will present The government will aim to raise around 14 billion pesos, not the 26.1 billion initially planned.

He added that the recognition and rating of Colombia at the international level before banking entities is one of the main motivations for a reform of tax collection in the country in times of health and economic crisis:

We must send a message of confidence to international markets in the long-term stability of our public finances. Here we must look for sources of income, not only temporary, but permanent that allow us to show these markets that Colombia will overcome the effects of the pandemic and will simultaneously be able to achieve a balanced management of finances and that this it’s not the case. will now generate an increase in public debt

Against this background, the first impression that Alberto Carrasquilla’s replacement and successor tried to give to the Ministry of Finance is that war and investments in arms are not among the first in Colombia’s economic recovery plans, at a time when the army, police and Esmad are present in the main cities of the country activating their arsenals during the protests for the national strike of 2021.

Regarding the changes to the tax reform, Restrepo pointed out in an interview with Caracol Radio that one of the most controversial points, which was the taxation of pensions in Colombia, is an issue that they do not intend to modify as it is today:

The president underlined general ideas with certain beginnings of consensus such as the extension of the high wealth tax. The idea is not to touch pensions and that a possible reform does not enter, there are many families who live from the person who receives the pension. The president made it clear that two things must be achieved: supporting vulnerable actors and ensuring the country’s fiscal stability. The reform must have a sense of solidarity. I see in the business sector the will and the sense of solidarity

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