Colombia’s Congress on Wednesday approved the 2015 government budget which will come into effect January 1, 2015 and has been set at $108 billion.
The budget by Colombia’s congress reflects austerity, saving, and the defense of the middle class from more taxes, according to a Senate press release. A huge point of debate was the financing of the budget and whether that cost would fall on Colombia’s “middle class.”
MORE: Budget blowback: Debate over Colombia’s 2015 budget proposal heats up in Congress
$60.5 billion or 56% of the budget will be dedicated towards operating costs of the government while money allocated towards public investment will increase to $24 billion or 22% from last year’s $23.1 billion.
MORE: Crunching the numbers on Colombia’s 2015 budget
$4 billion have been set aside for the attention and reparation of Colombia’s victims of the armed conflict, reported Radio Santa Fe.
Another $2.5 billion have been allocated towards Colombia’s rural countryside in the form of rural housing, road infrastructure, and productive agriculture projects.
“The financial situation is more delicate than originally thought. It is barely viable because the budget for 2015 that is being discussed does not have included the costs of post-conflict. That must be financed in 2015,” said former agriculture minister Juan Camilo Restrepo, according to El Espectador.
According to Colombia’s tax authority DIAN, over $15 billion of Colombian riches has been stashed away in offshore tax havens. DIAN announced that it will work to hunt down Colombian capital abroad.
Most voted in favor of the budget except for the Democratic Center Party members, led by senator and former president Alvaro Uribe, who have been adamantly opposed to the proposed tax reforms, big government, and contracts.
Sources
- Aprobado monto del presupuesto en Comisiones Económicas por $216,2 billones (Senate)
- Inversión, con más presupuesto (El Espectador)
- Gobierno asigna $13 billones para sector agropecuario y atención de víctimas del conflicto (Radio Santa Fe)
