00:00The Government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro is facing economic challenges due to opposition from right-wing sectors in Congress,
00:08the courts and the central bank, which blockaded key initiatives aimed at reducing the fiscal deficit and finance in social
00:15programs.
00:16My correspondent Hernán Darío Tobar brings us more details.
00:23President Gustavo Petro's administration faced obstacles to the implementation in these flagship reforms, particularly from Congress, the Supreme Court and
00:33the central bank, which hindered the implementation of economic and social policies amid a reducing inequality and historical social exclusion.
00:42Gustavo Petro's government has introduced three tax reforms, of which only the first was approved.
00:49These initiatives sought to address a historical fiscal deficit and rise nearly 4.3 billion social.
00:57However, the executive branch, refusal to back down on traditional political privileges, has radicalized a majority position in Congress, creating
01:08a legislative stalemate that limits the Petro's government's economic maneuvering room.
01:15The fiscal decisions made by Congress have not only rejected the 2025 budget, but also rejected to find the bills
01:23that previous administrations had approved without any problem.
01:26And this has caused several problems.
01:29One is the failure to make progress in areas such as the health care, where there is a crisis that
01:34has been proven for several years, not just recently, without any response.
01:40Furthermore, there is a fiscal crisis that is also being caused by the decision of the Congress of the Republic.
01:47This was not the only setback.
01:49In early 2025, the Constitutional Court declared a decree issued under the state of emergency in Catatumbo, unsconstitutional, due to
01:58procedural errors.
01:59The decree sought to use royalty funds to mitigate the violence and humanitarian crises in the region.
02:06Also, the High Court declared unconstitutional the tax decree intended to address last December winter emergency in several departments.
02:15This measure amidst to rise nearly 2.93 billion.
02:21That government, our judge, has been very harmful, not the president, who has become increasingly popular in the face of
02:29the court's attacks, but rather the Colombian people.
02:32I have invited you and continue inviting you with all due respect that if your wish engage in economy policy,
02:41resign from juridical positions, run for election and a political campaign, and then government in accordance with the will of
02:49the people, rather than from courts engaging in economic policy and harming the Colombian people.
02:55Another controversy is the 100 base point, increasing the interest rate by the central bank.
03:03The president asserts that this measures slow economic growth and benefits exclusively the financial sector, both local and farming.
03:13Some analysts agree with this presidential position.
03:16The financial sector is the main lender to the government, so when the benchmark interest rate rises, they become more
03:23expensive, which means they lend to the government a higher cost and therefore earn more.
03:28The second is that a financial vicious cycle is taking place, which means that the large economic groups are borrowing
03:36about 2 percent rates, bringing that money to Colombia and lending that the same money at 12 percent, making spectacular
03:45profits.
03:46And the third is this high cost gains for minimum wage increases by making consumer credit more expensive, which is
03:55a necessity for any worker in the country, forcing us to have paid more for loans.
04:00Petro's government is facing these economic challenges amidst an institutional framework controlled by sectors of the right.
04:08In this context, and with the upcoming presidential election, the people are determined to promote a forward to change this
04:16practice.
04:17Hernán Darío Tobar Gaitán, Telesur, Bogotá, Colombia.
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