Banco de la Republica de Colombia : Juan José Echavarría, informed the Board of Directors of his intention to resign from his position as Governor after completing the four-year period

The Governor of Banco de la República (the Central Bank of Colombia) Mr. Juan José Echavarría, informed the Board of Directors at today's session of his intention to resign from his position as Governor after completing the four-year period for which he was appointed in 2016.

As is well known, the current regulation provides the Governor with the possibility to present himself to opt for re-election for up to two additional periods. However, family reasons that prevail over any other consideration led Mr. Echavarría to decline that aspiration.

After announcing the decision, the Governor expressed his great satisfaction with the results achieved by the Central Bank -the institution most trusted by Colombians- throughout these four years.

• At the macroeconomic level, inflation, the Central Bank's main constitutional mandate, was reduced from a level close to 6.0% (yearly) when he came to office to 3.8% in 2019 (before the pandemic), and to 1.97% annually today.
• The Bank contributed significantly to the stabilization and recovery of the Colombian economy after the wreckage of Covid-19, with measures such as the provision of abundant liquidity in domestic and foreign currencies, the reduction of the benchmark interest rate, the purchase of public and private debt, and the easing of conditions for the financial sector to channel more resources to productive activity.
• Also, the International Monetary Fund expanded the flexible credit quota to Colombia a few weeks ago, from USD 10,800 million to USD 17,300 million, resources that will contribute to the recovery of the economy.
• In 2020, 7 trillion pesos were transferred to the government from 2019 profits, and close to 6.8 trillion is expected to be transferred in 2021. These resources would normally be provided by two tax reforms.
• The Central Bank leads the ranking of the best academic institutions in the country. Also, the Network of Economic Researchers was created, which coordinates research activities with 20 local universities.
• The cultural leadership of Banco de la República in this period was strengthened nationwide and internationally, with a greater commitment to territorial presence and participatory inclusion policies.
• Recently, the Bank was awarded a gender equity seal by the Ministry of Labor and UNDP.

Mr. Echavarría expressed his gratitude to the other Board Members and all the Central Bank's officials for their support, commitment, and enthusiastic work during these years.

Additionally, he expressed his full confidence that the Board will appoint the best possible candidate as his successor to preserve the independence of the Central Bank and its attachment to technical decisions far from political nuances. These attributes have been underscored by national and international experts as essential conditions to ensure the country's economic stability in the medium and long term.