Social protection responses In Colombia, the government issued an executive decree on March 27th that allowed formal sector workers with salaries up to four minimum wages who lost their jobs due to the pandemic  ( starting March 13th )  to apply for unemployment insurance. Only those with at least 12 social security contributions over the past five years were eligible for the transfer that was equivalent to two minimum ages over a period of three months. Eligible workers whose wages declined were also allowed to withdraw funds from their social security accounts to compensate for wage loss.136 According to the Ministry of Labor, salary reductions were allowed based on mutual accord but not below the minimum wage. By the end of April, almost half a million people  ( 499 000 )  had submitted applications for this unemployment insurance, but only 144,000 of the applicants met the requirements, and only 47 000 had actually been approved for the transfer.137 Meanwhile, just over 54,000 workers whose wages had declined had withdrawn funds from their social security account.138 Given insufficient resources, the government in early May promised to provide additional funds to Social Security and to increase the reach of the transfer. By mid May, over 600,000 people had applied for unemployment insurance; only 26%, or, 160,000 of the applicants met the requirements, and only 78 000 individuals had to date received a transfer. The President of the Family Compensation Funds Association  ( Asocajas )  claimed that many of the decentralized branches of the Family Compensation Funds Association had run out of funds, and that the government was looking into adding funds to bolster the accounts.139 At the same time, the Ministry of Labor reported that during the month of March, 1.5 million workers left their jobs.140 By early June, the Family Compensation Funds Association declared it had the funds to cover a total of 150,000 unemployed workers.141 By June 23rd, 754,000 applications had been received, of which 232,000 had been approved, and 109 000 people had been granted unemployment insurance. In early July, the Association declared that it would be able to cover up to 200 000 approved unemployed workers, an increase from initial estimates.142 Meanwhile, given the high number of unemployed workers who had applied for assistance, the government in early June extended eligibility for the non contributory Ingreso Solidario  ( 160 000 pesos, about US$ 40 )  to those on the waiting list for unemployment insurance who had made at least six contributions to social security over the past five years. The expectation was that it would apply to about 600,000 people.143 Another group of workers were those who had had labor contracts temporarily suspended or who were on unpaid leave. Information about the number of such workers was not publicly available, but the government in early June also announced assistance to this group of workers. Here too, the amount pledged was the equivalent of the Ingreso Solidario.144 Aside from unemployed workers, the government also provided assistance for companies to maintain their workers, although here too it was quite slow to materialize. In April, the government announced credit to help small and medium sized companies to stay afloat and pay their workers' salaries. The head of the association for small and medium sized enterprises pushed back, asking for subsidies rather than credit given high levels of extant indebtedness, arguing that as providers of employment to 17.8 million people in Colombia, they should receive this help. In May, the government relented and issued a decree to subsidize worker wages for small and medium sized companies, allowing them to apply for 40% of the minimum wage per worker in companies that had seen a 20% decrease in their income, for up to four months.145 On June 9th, the President tweeted that 2.4 million Colombians had received their first transfer in this program.146 The government also subsidized half of the mid year bonus payment for minimum wage workers, an extra salary payment workers are legally entitled to. In early August, the president announced he was proposing to increase this subsidy until the end of 2020.147