Daniel Quintero and Gustavo Petro will meet in Bogotá to discuss government revenue rates / EFE and Reuters archive images.

On February 27, it was announced that President Gustavo Petro and the Mayor of Medellín, Daniel QuinteroThey will hold a meeting to discuss the request made by the local president to the national government on February 24. According to information published by the On the radiothe dialogue will take place this Tuesday, February 28 in the city of Bogotá.

The news comes after the mayor of the capital of Antioquia sent a letter to the president asking him to be able Freeze utility rates EPM. The one-page document begins by ensuring that it is increasingly difficult for families in the country to support their economy due to the monthly increase in the prices of certain products, including public services.

“As rulers, it is increasingly difficult to sleep easy when we see how much the cost of living has increased for our fellow citizens: the markets are worth double, gasoline continues to rise, and services public utilities are priced irrationally, making ends meet is getting harder and harder for families, especially the poorest,” reads the letter sent by Daniel Quintero.

After explaining the main reason for the request, the local president mentioned the decree that empowered the president to resume the regulation of public services in Colombia, to justify why the petition is addressed directly to the executive.

“In my capacity as Mayor of the City of Medellín and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EPM, I received with optimism Presidential Decree No. 0227 of February 16, 2023, by which you, as President, resume the home utility functions that were previously run by the Creg,” the document reads.

If Quintero’s petition is approved, different parts of the country would benefit, including: Medellín, Antioquia, Córdoba, Bolívar, Sucre, Santander, Norte de Santander, Caldas Quindío, Risaralda, Quibdó, Providencia and Santa Marta.

Let us remember that the decree with which the President of the Republic assumed this responsibility was signed by his cabinet, although the news would have been mentioned by Petro himself at the end of January, at that time he assured that this function would be in favor of Colombians.

“I will assume direct and personal control, based on what the law itself says: first the general interest and that of the user,” he said during an event at Duitama, Boyacá, January 26.

While the move has been welcomed by some sectors, others say it could create uncertainty in energy sectors, for example, the vice president of credit at Moody’s Investors Service, Adrian Garzaasserted that the new decree could delay new investments inside the country, since these faculties are used in environments of high inflation, but likewise, it does not have a positive impact, since it puts the financial sectors on alert.

“While the measures have not yet been disclosed, unilateral decisions that dampen revenues and postpone cost recovery into 2023 will negatively impact the credit metrics of utilities and electric companies operating in the country,” said the vice president of credit at Moody’s Investors Service.

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