Cartagena Warns Royalty Fund Freeze Jeopardizes Hospitals, Roads, Social Projects

Cartagena's administration is raising alarms over a national decision that has frozen 20% of the city's royalty budget for 2025-2026, potentially stalling vital projects. Mayor Dumek Turbay stated that this measure, which impacts 13.4 billion Colombian pesos, could delay crucial infrastructure and social initiatives.

The freeze is a consequence of the General Royalties System's Steering Committee decision, based on lower-than-expected national royalty collections in the third quarter of the biennium. This has led the Ministry of Finance to block 20% of the budgetary appropriations for territorial entities, as per Decree 1821 of 2020.

City officials expressed concern that this uniform application of the measure does not differentiate between regions that have met their revenue goals and those that have lagged. Cartagena, in particular, has reported fiscal performance exceeding projections, yet it faces the same restrictions.

Among the projects at risk is the construction and equipping of the new Pasacaballos Hospital, a key health infrastructure priority for the current administration. While funds for this initiative were identified through strong performance in direct royalty assignments, the inability to access the frozen percentage could disrupt the project's timeline. The mayor criticized the decision as an obstacle for investment plans in several capital cities, questioning the uniform application of restrictions on municipalities with sound financial management.

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The decision represents an obstacle for the investment plans of several capital cities and questions why municipalities with good financial performance face the same restrictions.