PRESS RELEASE

The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Colombia, in today’s meeting, approved the Bank's 2017 financial statements. Both the Auditor General to the Bank and the external audit firm Deloitte issued their opinion on said statements without any observations. Additionally, the Office of the Financial Superintendent of Colombia had issued its approval for submission to the Board.

Total assets amounted to COP $174,884 billion, formed mainly by international reserves (84.2%) and by active operations of monetary regulation—Investments in TES and Repo Operations (9.0%). Liabilities amounted to COP $117,490 b, i.e., 67.2% of total assets, composed mainly of circulating banknotes (61.2%), deposits in accounts at the Central Bank (12.8%), and interest-bearing deposits by the national government (11.5%). Assets amounted to $57,394 b, 32.8% of total assets.

In 2017, the Central Bank obtained a COP $804.2 b profit, product of a COP $3,330 b income by (6.4% annual increase) and COP $2,526 b in expenditures (3.9% annual decline). Vis-à-vis the results in 2016, (COP $501.8 b), the profit from 2017 increased COP $302.4 b (60.3%).

The increase in the revenue was due mainly to the higher return of the international reserves, while the reduction in expenditures is explained by a lower remuneration to deposits of the General Directorate of Public Credit and National Treasury (DGCPTN), by the maturity of the monetary control deposits, and by the lower appreciation of the peso and its effect on the contributions to international agencies and entities. 

According to the legal framework of the Central Bank, as contained in the Constitution, Act 31 of 1992, and the Bylaws of the Bank, the remnant of the profit, discounting net investment in goods for cultural activity and after appropriation of the statutory reserves, will belong to the State. Accordingly, the Board of Directors of Banco de la República agreed to transfer COP $761.0 b to the National Government.

For more information, please consult the Central Bank's financial statements at: http://www.banrep.gov.co/es/el-banco/estados-financieros-anuales.