BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombia’s government has set its spending budget for 2025 at 511 trillion pesos ($117.2 billion) according to a decree signed by Finance Minister Diego Guevara that was published on Thursday.
The amount was lower than a previously planned 523 trillion pesos after Colombia’s Congress this month rejected a fiscal reform that the government hoped would raise an additional 12 trillion pesos.
President Gustavo Petro does not have a solid majority in Congress and this is the first time in more than two decades that a government has had to issue a budget by decree, rather then through congressional approval.
Earlier on Thursday, Colombia’s Autonomous Fiscal Rule Committee (CARF) said the Andean country would need to cut spending this year by 40 trillion pesos, followed by a subsequent cut of 52 trillion pesos next year.
The adjustments are needed 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 = 4,359.11 Colombian pesos)
(Reporting by Carlos Vargas and Nelson BocanegraWriting by Oliver Griffin)
