June 2020

World’s Worst Stock Market Risks More Pain From Pension Selling

The world’s worst-performing stock market this year is at risk of an even steeper drop from a proposal to let Colombians tap pension savings during the coronavirus crisis. The government has held talks with private pension funds regarding an “important proposal” that would allow workers to draw down their retirement accounts, Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla told lawmakers Wednesday. The government has made “advances” on the issue, though hasn’t reached a decision, Carrasquilla said. The plan would likely need congressional...

Colombia may allow partial withdrawals from pensions during crisis

Colombia’s government could allow people to make partial withdrawals from their pension funds during the economic crisis caused by measures to halt the spread of coronavirus, finance minister Alberto Carrasquilla said on Wednesday. Read also World’s Worst Stock Market Risks More Pain From Pension Selling As of the end of March, pension funds in the country held some 281 trillion pesos ($77.13 billion) in compulsory and voluntary pensions, according to industry association Asofondos. Read also Supreme Court Clears Bankruptcy Restructuring...

December 2019

Colombia’s Pension Reform Hampered By Political Tension

According to a new report by Colombia Risk Analysis, the debate underway over pension reform in Colombia is plagued with misinformation and confusion resulting from the current divisive political climate in the country, and conflicting objectives by various political actors. Current protests and strikes over a myriad of grievances have partially paralyzed the country literally and figuratively. The current administration of President Ivan Duque enjoys only a 26% approval rating according to recent polls and thus lacks political capital...

Is Informality Good for Business? The Impacts of IDP Inflows on Formal Firms

By Sandra Rozo, Hernan Winkler This paper examines the effects of large inflows of internally displaced persons (IDP), who are primarily absorbed by the informal sector, on the behavior of formal manufacturing firms in Colombia. To identify causal effects, the analysis employs annual, firm-level panel data between 1995 and 2010 and exploits that when conflict intensifies, forcefully displaced individuals tend to migrate to municipalities where people from their origin locations settled earlier. The paper finds that large inflows of...

November 2019

Colombia protesters vow new strike after talks hit snag

President Ivan Duque met for two hours with a protest steering committee Tuesday, but neither side was able to agree on a clear path forward and demonstrators vowed to hold a new national strike instead. Diogenes Medina, a union organizer on the National Strike Committee, said protesters want a separate dialogue with Duque rather than inclusion in the “national conversation” that the president has begun with various societal sectors. “We’re willing to keep talking,” Medina said. But, he added,...

October 2019

Colombian unions call national strike against Duque’s attacks on pensions and workplace rights

Colombian trade unions joined students on a national demonstration today and announced a general strike against right-wing President Ivan Duque’s neoliberal labour and pension reforms. The Unitary Central of Workers of Colombia (CUT) said a second day of action was planned for October 17, with further strikes set to take place on November 21. It is calling for peace in the country, with Mr Duque’s administration responsible for a major increase in killings of former members of the Revolutionary...

December 2018

Colombia. Continúa la reducción de la informalidad laboral en el país

En cuanto a salud, se registró que el 92,4 % de ocupados en ciudades principales estaban vinculados. El Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadísticas (Dane) informó este miércoles que la proporción de trabajadores que tienen empleos informales se redujo a 48 por ciento en el trimestre de agosto a octubre, en comparación con el 48,7 por ciento registrado en el mismo periodo del 2017. La ciudad con los mayores niveles de trabajo informal fue nuevamente Cúcuta, con 69,6 por ciento, manteniendo exactamente...

October 2017

Transición pensional del Régimen General de pensiones en el ESD: Servidores Públicos

por Angela Janeth Rivera Silva Los fondos de pensiones que administran el Régimen De Prima Media con Prestación Definida, han visto en aumento el número de demandas en su contra por parte de los pensionados por ley 33 de 1985, quienes solicitan la Reliquidación de la Pensión con el IBL del último año de servicios y todos los factores salariales percibidos, con fundamento en la Sentencia del 4 de agosto de 2010 del Consejo de Estado , y la Circular...