Petro to Skirt Colombia Congress to Issue 2025 Budget by Decree

Colombia’s government will skirt congress and take the unprecedented step of issuing its 2025 budget by decree.

The administration of President Gustavo Petro took the decision after it failed to reach an agreement with lawmakers on spending cuts and tax hikes, Lower House representative Eliecer Salazar, a government ally who is president of a congressional economic committee, said Tuesday.

The unorthodox use of presidential powers is likely to be challenged in the Constitutional Court, which could potentially throw the budget out, leaving it unchanged from 2024, said Juan Felipe Lemos, an opposition senator.

Petro will issue a budget of ...