During a “Good Governance” workshop Monday, Colombia’s Finance Minister announced President Juan Manuel Santos’s targets in investment, poverty reduction, and unemployment to achieve a “more equal country” during his second term.
By 2018, President Juan Manuel Santos and his ministers hope to:
- decrease unemployment to 7.5%
- decrease poverty to 25%
- decrease extreme poverty to 5%
- increase investment to 32% of GDP.
According to Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas, Colombians currently have an annual income of around $8,300 dollars. Cardenas would like to set a target at $11,200 of income per capita by the end of 2018, an addition of over $3,000 to a Colombian’s income.
“All these objectives are all connected. For this we need more housing, roadways, that the whole energy sector keeps growing. Connecting all these objectives, we can provide Colombian families with more employment. And something fundamental, that we advance in the erradication of extreme poverty,” stated Minister Cardenas, according to the President’s website.
Unemployment currently stands at 9.2%, poverty at 29%, and extreme poverty at 8.8%, according to government statistics.
MORE: Colombia’s unemployment rate lowest in 14 years: govt
Sources
- Gobierno define metas para lograr un país más equitativo (Presidencia)