Iván Duque appoints José Manuel Restrepo as new Minister of Finance

This May 3, the president Ivan Duque accepted the resignation of Alberto Carrasquilla placeholder image as Minister of Finance and appointed José Manuel Restrepo, who held the position of Head of the Commerce portfolio.

“My gratitude and respect always for your contribution at the head of the economic team. During its management, important achievements have been made, among which an unprecedented social program to deal with the pandemic ”, declared, on Twitter, the head of state of Carrasquilla.

Thanks to this social network, Ivan Duque He also announced the appointment of José Manuel Restrepo as the new head of the Ministry of Finance.

“I have appointed José Manuel Restrepo as the new Ministry of Finance, which currently occupies the Ministry of Commerce. Economist with a Masters in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Doctorate in Administration from the U. De Bath, former rector U. Rosario, and a huge vocation to serve the country ”.

Before being rector of the Universidad del Rosario and the College of Higher Studies in Administration (CESA), José Manuel Restrepo He was rector of the Corporate Foundation of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce. Among other things, the new Minister of Finance held the position of Director of Financial Planning and Budget at Fonade.

Restrepo also belonged to the Institutional Chamber of the National Council for Quality Assurance in Higher Education of the Ministry of National Education.

He will be accompanied as Deputy Minister of Finance by Fernando Jiménez, who has a distinguished career in the Pensions and Parafiscal Unit, was Director of National Budget, Investments and Public Finance at the National Planning Department.

In addition, Restrepo has appointed Jesús Antonio Bejarano Rojas, now Director of Macroeconomic Policy at the Ministry of Finance, as Technical Deputy Minister.

As Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, José Manuel Restrepo, was the spearhead of the country’s economic recovery after the covid-19 situation. One of the key decisions made by the portfolio manager for Colombia was the signing of the decree 278, March 15, with which it is expected that free zones will promote economy 4.0 in Colombia

Decree 278 will reduce the minimum investment amount required for the declaration and extension of a free zone, as well as the reduction of deadlines and requirements, among others.

Part of the economic recovery strategies implemented during the pandemic, according to Restrepo himself, were the virtual stores created by the MinTic and ‘I stay in my company’, of the Commerce portfolio, targeting access to the digital market for small and medium-sized enterprises.

“This sector – e-commerce – in the midst of the emergency has grown by almost 12% per week, and in the days without VAT it has had a big impact,” he said recently.

Perhaps the biggest challenge you’ll have José Manuel Restrepo In assuming the post of Minister of Finance, it will be a question of regaining the credibility, not only of Colombians in general, who demonstrated in the streets against tax reform, but also of members of Congress, to work out a new reform in such a way. consensual.

A factor against the new finance ministry is time, because for some economists the fall of tax reform represents the loss of credibility of Colombian fiscal policy. The speed of reaching consensus is also urgent if we take into account the declaration of Alberto Carrasquilla placeholder image a month ago, that the country only had cash for six weeks; and in that vein, right now there are only two left.

“My continuity within the government would make it difficult to quickly and efficiently build the necessary consensus”was Carrasquilla’s phrase after stepping down from his post. What the country hopes is that in Restrepo’s hands, the goal will be achieved.

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