The $17.3 billion bill was approved in joint House and Senate committees and now proceeds to the plenary.
The third and fourth commissions of the Senate and the House of Representatives approved this Wednesday the budget of the general royalties system (SGR) that will be in force between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2022. The total amount of the initiative is $17.3 billion.
The bill, which now goes to the second debate in the plenary sessions of both corporations, was positively presented by parties aligned with the Government.
Of the $17.3 billion, the Ministry of Mines and Energy estimates to deliver about $4 billion in direct allocations for the country’s producing regions and at least another $2 billion to benefit the municipalities with the highest unsatisfied basic needs. There will also be resources for investments such as tertiary roads and for agriculture in the form of uncommitted balances from previous fiscal years (close to $5.5 billion).
In general, royalties for the product departments increase from 10 % to 20 %, something which was approved in the SGR reform approved this year in Congress (with the possibility of an extra 5% advance payment for municipalities with exploration activity, for example).
Regarding the projects developed under the SGR, the Comptroller’s Office has warned that there is a risk in the concentration of contracting, as only one bidder has been registered in 70% of these initiatives.
There was an alternative report, which was denied by the congressmen of the economic commissions.
According to Alberto Carrasquilla, Minister of Finance, “it is a project that makes possible the decentralization of State funds because it gives sufficient tools to departmental and municipal authorities to control and invest their resources in projects that favor the development of their communities”.
The project, according to the Government, also establishes a simplification in the procedures for processing the projects to be carried out with these resources, since now there will only be eight OCADs (Collegiate Administration and Decision Making Bodies), whereas before there were 1,000.
According to Luis Alberto Rodríguez, director of the National Planning Department, this budget reflects for the first time the allocation of 5% of the total revenues of the General Royalties System for the environment and sustainable development. This allocation amounts to $771 billion for 2021 and 2022.
