To the Congress of the Republic The long-awaited fiscal adjustment law arrived of the government of Abelardo De La Espriellawith which one searches face the economic crisis which he inherited from the administration of Gustavo Petro. And although until yesterday the parliamentarians began to analyze the text, whose approval will be the first great test of Alejandro Ordóñez as Minister of the Interior –It is expected that his possession will be in the next few days–, the project seems to have the confidence of the ruling coalition, although with certain conditions and red lines that could lead to an intense debate.
In principle, It is expected that the main forces of the Congress of the Republic give a vote of confidence to the House of Nariño so that, with this, look for a way out of the fiscal crisis.
Trust also lies not only in the fact that it is an inherited problem, but also in the fact that they are aware that The earthquake of August 10 changed the panorama political and economic and today the country needs more resources. In several instances, different sectors of Congress agree to rescue finances of the Nation.
Likewise, the economic management that the Government has been giving has generated confidence in Congress and several sectors agree that what should be done at this time is to trust the Government and wait for results. But for that we will have to wait several months, so another vote of confidence is to support the State reduction project, but this confidence is not a blank check for the National Government. There is agreement, for example, on the need to significantly reduce the statewhich was a campaign promise of Abelardo De La Espriella.
“For years, from the Democratic Center we have insisted on putting a stop to wastereduce bureaucracy and responsibly manage the resources of Colombians. Therefore, we emphasize that The economic rescue law contemplates concrete measures of austerity, tax relief and protection for the most vulnerable households,” the representative assured the House Hilda Gutierrezof the Democratic Center.
But there is already a red line that the president of Congress himself expressed: there would be no environment to approve new taxes. The president of Congress, the senator of the Democratic Center Honorio Henriquezassured that during this discussion all guarantees will be givenboth for the Government and for the pro-government and opposition forces.
“There will be full guarantees to provide a broad debate for all sectors. It must be reviewed calmly, carefully. Colombians can’t stand one more tax. I cannot speak for the rest, but I have a responsibility from the campaign, where I told the voters that I did not approve initiatives that would imply more expenses for Colombians. We must reduce the Statethere is a lot of duplication of functions, positions that are not needed, high hiring. We must have a more dynamic State that the savings that are needed are generated”.
Precisely this point will be one of the most complex, because the initiative does touch taxes and not just a reduction of the State. Furthermore, contrary to what happened with the budget, when the Government took very few proposals into account, in Congress They hope that this time it will allow a more collective construction of the project, respecting the spirit of what was presented by the De La Espriella administration. It is expected that the discussion take place in the coming weeksonce the economic commissions conclude the budget addition.
Without a doubt, this will be a very busy end of the year in Congress and from now on It is not ruled out that extraordinary sessions should be called so as not to leave pending discussions until 2027, since there is no time to lose in the economic recovery and, at the legislative start of the following year, eyes will be on the construction of the National Development Plan.
In fact, yesterday the Minister of Finance, Miguel Gomezinsisted that there is no time to lose: “They left us a time bomb and we are in a very difficult situation. Without this reform there would be a fiscal crisisbecause without adjustment we would not be able to obtain the resources we need to finance the budget that we have to close for next year. We have to stop the increase in debt; “That is a central objective of this bill.”
Ordóñez will debut with a difficult taskalthough it receives majorities that work, although they are fragile. The ruling coalition has been functioning at a good pace thanks to the work that the former Minister of the Interior had been doing Rodrigo Lara. This was demonstrated in the approval of the budget, the progress of the efficiency law, which yesterday passed his first debateand in the submission law, which seems to have the votes for its approval in the coming days in both the Senate and the House.
However, a single party of the most numerous in Congress (Liberal, Conservative and Democratic Center) that is not aligned with any point of this new law, could mean a setback for the administration From La Espriella, then Historical Pact is aware of this and will bet on divisions in the coalition in order to try to affect the interests of the Executive.
MATEO GARCIA
Deputy Policy Editor
