On October 5th, the Ministry of Finance published resolution Nº3348 in the Official Gazette authorizing the National State to issue, subscribe and place external public debt securities in international capital markets. This measure is already in force.

Specifically, the resolution authorizes government to issue, subscribe and place external public debt securities in international capital markets under the modality of two operations that must be carried out simultaneously: the first will be a public credit operation, with the objective that the Colombian State will be prepared to finance the 2019 national budget and with a limit of up to USD 2 billion (or its equivalent in other currencies). The second will be a debt management operation, up to the amount of USD 1 billion (or its equivalent in other currencies); this operation will consist of the substitution and/or repurchase of the Global Bond (the sovereign bonds issued by the Colombian State) maturing on March 18th, 2019, with an interest charge of 7.375% and a current amount of USD 2 billion.

In addition, the payment of the principal, interests, commissions and other concepts related to these operations will be exempt from all kinds of national taxes, rates, contributions and liens only when made to persons without residence in the country.