BOGOTA (Reuters) – The Colombian government plans to pitch a new tax reform to Congress to raise at least 12 trillion pesos ($2.86 billion) needed to finance its budget, Finance Minister Diego Guevara said on Thursday, after lawmakers struck down a similar proposal late last year.
Guevara, in an interview with local radio station Caracol, added that the government could seek an even higher amount from the reform.
Last year, Congress rejected a tax reform proposal to raise around 9.8 trillion pesos to round out the funding needed to finance the 2025 budget. With those funds off the table, the government had to tighten its purse strings and reduce spending to around 511 trillion pesos.
“It is no secret that there is significant tax pressure this year,” Guevara said in the interview. “We need new resources,” he added, saying President Gustavo Petro had requested sending another proposal.
Petro’s administration will once again float some measures lawmakers rejected last year, according to Guevara, including tax cuts for small-to-medium-size businesses while imposing taxes on industries such as mining and energy.
“We’re still in the initial stage (of planning the new proposal),” Guevara said. “The baseline will be 12 trillion pesos (raised), but we may aim for a bit more to ensure stability this year and in the longer term.”
Petro’s government has limited backing in Congress.
The autonomous fiscal rule committee (CARF) estimates that the government’s spending earmarked for this year is still 40 trillion pesos over, despite trimming off 12 trillion pesos already.
($1 = 4,188.59 Colombian pesos)
(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra)
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