00:00Do we have a budget? We still need to know how it will be financed.
00:03The government of Abelardo de la Esprilla already has its budget for the year 2027.
00:08After a review of the accounts, which included a rejection of the budget presented by the Petro government,
00:16The rushed process in Congress ended with the clumsiness of a failed approval that resulted in its enactment by
00:24decree.
00:25Several of the modifications introduced during the legislative process were left out along the way.
00:31as well as the now former Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Lara, who ended up being replaced without completing three months in office.
00:40Do we have a budget? Yes.
00:41But the Casa de Nariño (Presidential Palace) is overdue in telling us how it will be financed and what the specific plan is.
00:48adjustment to address the fiscal deficit without raising taxes, as he has promised us.
00:54To understand the principles of a government, the best indicator is to look at how it allocates state funds.
01:02Based on that premise, we still cannot answer what the strategy of the Esprilla government will be.
01:08This is understandable, in part, because the earthquake, with its effects that are still being felt,
01:13It changed priorities and created a need for considerable state investment.
01:18The lack of preparation for the El Niño phenomenon, whose most serious effects we will begin to feel next month
01:25coming,
01:26This means that the central government's multiple promises of reduction have to be frozen.
01:33Additionally, and the president and his finance minister, Miguel Gómez, are right about this,
01:38The irresponsible management of finances in the previous administration created significant challenges,
01:44such as growth linked to unsustainable state spending.
01:48For all the above reasons, the amount of 634.95 trillion pesos that was ultimately decreed
01:57And that it is superior to the one proposed by the Petra government is an act of honesty that we celebrate.
02:06All of the above does not mean that the fiscal and political challenges disappear,
02:11nor that the current government bears no responsibility.
02:14Therefore, we return to a question we have asked in recent months.
02:20How is it possible, given this bleak outlook regarding resources,
02:23Why is it not proposed to increase taxes to improve central government revenue collection?
02:29And if the government had an extraordinary plan to achieve that utopia,
02:34Every day that passes without getting it started makes it even less feasible.
02:40It is true that, after the budget was approved by decree,
02:45The Ministry of Finance signed a cut of 13.8 trillion pesos,
02:50equivalent to 0.7% of GDP, for the fiscal year 2026.
02:57Minister Gomez says an economic rescue law is almost ready.
03:02Time is of the essence to learn the details and understand the legislative process.
03:08which has now added doubts about the change in the Ministry of the Interior
03:12and the growing concerns in some parties of the governing coalition.
03:17Regarding the budget itself, it is also noteworthy that both education,
03:22with 93 trillion pesos,
03:24such as health, with 81.56 trillion pesos,
03:30be the sectors that receive the most resources,
03:32even above defense, with 74.9 trillion pesos.
03:38It sounds good, but it reminds us that, especially in the education sector,
03:42We still need to know the strategy proposed by the new government.
03:45apart from their senseless culture war.
03:50These two months are key for the country to learn
03:53What is the Casa de Nariño thinking more clearly?
03:56and how he's going to make the numbers add up.
04:01If you disagree with this editorial,
04:03Submit your 500-word counter-editorial
04:05to elespectadoropinion.com
04:19Thank you.
04:22Thank you.
04:23Thank you.
