In December 2023, the Ministry of Finance did not buy or sell dollars in the market, but accumulated purchases of US$593.8 million in 2023

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Bogotá.-As expected, according to what was anticipated by the Public Credit and National Treasury Directorate, the Ministry of Finance closed 2023 with zero dollar monetizations.

This behavior implies that the Government did not sell dollars as of the twelfth month of last year, consolidating the trend observed in the last quarter of 2022, when there were zero dollar monetizations.

However, it should be mentioned that, on the purchases side, there was a balance of acquisitions for US$230.3 million in October, in addition to those recorded last June for US$363.5 million, for a cumulative total for the year of US$593.8 million.

A few months ago, the Director of Public Credit, José Roberto Acosta, anticipated that the policy of «zero monetizations will continue, so it is to be expected that the Government will continue without selling dollars in 2024.

However, there could eventually be additional acquisitions, in order to improve the cash position in US currency, given the foreign debt payments foreseen for the next year, particularly those related to the obligations contracted with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It should be recalled that the Executive only sold to the market a net of US$59.3 million in 2022, as a result of zero dollar purchases and monetizations for the same amount.

This amount was 99.5% lower than that recorded in the immediately preceding year, when it reached US$13,324 million.