The Finance and Public Credit Committee of the House of Representatives approved on May 9th the initiative that proposes to slash three zeros off the Colombian peso. The bill establishes a three-year transition period between current notes and new pesos. The bill is ready to be debated in the floor of the House of Representatives and once approved, it will continue its process in the Senate.

The bill proposes to eliminate three zeros from the peso and incorporate the phrase nuevos pesos (new pesos) to the bills issued as of the effective date of the law. It also establishes a transition period between old and new banknotes, which will begin on January 1st, 2020 and will end on January 1st, 2023. During that period, the current peso and the new peso will circulate simultaneously and the conversion to the new monetary unit will be carried out without cost. The current banknotes and coins will only be exchanged for the new ones in the Bank of the Republic and at credit establishments.

The bill was prepared by the Bank of the Republic and by the Attorney General’s Office. In the elaboration of the document, the presidents of the Treasury and Public Credit committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, Antonio Guerra (Radical Change – allied to the ruling party) and Jack Housni (Liberal-opposition party), respectively, also participated.

The bill will be debated in the floor of the House of Representatives in the coming weeks. The initiative has explicit support, in addition to the ruling party, of legislators of the allied Radical Change party and members of the Conservative Party.