© Archyde.com/LUISA GONZALEZ
File photo. Facade of the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance of Colombia in Bogotá
By Nelson Bocanegra and Julia Symmes Cobb
BOGOTÁ, Feb 4 (Archyde.com) – Colombia has revised its economic growth target for this year upwards to 5% from a previous target of 4.3%, while envisioning a better fiscal outlook, the country’s finance minister said on Friday. Treasury, Jose Manuel Restrepo.
The expansion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would be almost half of the 9.7% expansion that the Government projects it would have reached last year, but it would be assimilated to the levels prior to the pandemic and incorporates a less expansive monetary policy.
The minister assured that the growth forecast incorporates risks such as a greater persistence of high inflation at the global and local levels, restrictions on productive activity associated with the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and new bottlenecks in the mining sectors. and construction.
© Archyde.com/LUISA GONZALEZ
File photo. Colombian Finance Minister José Manuel Restrepo speaks during an interview with Archyde.com while serving as Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism in his office in Bogotá
Restrepo also announced a revision of the fiscal deficit target for 2022 to 6.2% of GDP, lower than an original 7% of GDP, as well as the 7.1% of GDP that would have been recorded last year.
“We will ensure that this gradual and orderly adjustment of public finances is being achieved in a more accelerated manner,” Restrepo said during the presentation of the new financial plan.
The improvement in the goal is supported by an expectation of tax collection of 183 billion pesos this year (46,306 million dollars), higher than a previous projection of 169 billion pesos.
With the new fiscal estimates, the public debt level previously projected at 62.7% by 2032 would be achieved this year, Restrepo said.
The official announced that the country will issue public debt for 75.9 billion pesos during the year (19,205 million dollars), less than the previous target of 102 billion pesos.
71% of the issues would be made in the local market and the remaining 29% would correspond to external financing.
“We are going to reduce the pressure in all markets, in the internal market it drops 10 billion pesos, in the external one 16 billion pesos and in short-term treasury titles approximately 5 billion pesos,” explained the director of Credit Public, Cesar Arias.
The director specified that the country would issue around 3,000 million dollars in the international capital market.
(1 dollar = 3,951.96 pesos)
(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra, additional reporting by Carlos Vargas)