Carrasquilla: Pandemic cost more than $ 330 billion and we need to recover it

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The Minister of Finance, Alberto Carrasquilla, assured that the photograph of the economic effects is really terrifying and exceeds $ 330 billion but asked the economists to also calculate the value of the measures taken to control the pandemic. The Colombian economy contracted 15.7% in the second quarter of the year and the Government expects the recession to be 5.5% for the full year, the difference between what could be and what will be in terms of growth is the origin of the calculation of the losses.

Carrasquilla said in a forum with the Comptroller's Office, measured in terms of GDP that gives more than 330 billion measured in terms of sacrificed wages more than 180 billion or something similar and that is a dramatic scenario. Now that opens a third scenario about what kind of reforms and institutional changes we can implement so that we can recover these resources.

The official assured that it is time for long term discussions in the context of the impacts of the pandemic. One of them is to solve the problem of making a labor reform that is socially acceptable to combat informality and high unemployment.