Colombia’s interior minister says proposed $2.73 billion fiscal reform not viable

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo on Monday said the government’s proposed 12 trillion peso ($2.73 billion) fiscal reform was “not viable,” but added that a smaller sum could be achieved.

Colombia’s government presented its latest fiscal reform to Congress in September, which it hopes will finance spending in 2025 by increasing taxes and taking on more debt.

“I believe, to be completely frank and sincere, that today it’s not viable to consider a financing law that raises the 12 trillion needed for the budget, but it’s possible to advance in several points of the reform that give a lower figure,” Cristo told journalists in Bogota.

At the end of November, the government said it would cut spending this year by 28.4 trillion pesos, citing lower-than-expected tax revenues.

The Autonomous Fiscal Rule Committee last month said the 2024 budget needed a 56.2 trillion peso cut to comply with the so-called fiscal rule, which was created in 2011 to implement policy constraints that prevent the deterioration of public finances.

($1 = 4,396.52 Colombian pesos)

(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Writin by Oliver Griffin)