LatinNews Daily - 22 December 2025

*Colombia’s Finance Minister Germán Ávila Plazas has announced that President Gustavo Petro’s government will declare an economic emergency in order to raise an additional Col$16tn (US$4.19bn) in 2026. This is in response to the rejection of the government’s tax reform bill by a senate commission on 9 December. Ávila said that the additional funds, which were not accounted for in the 2026 budget that was approved by congress in October, are needed to protect fundamental rights, redistribute wealth to the most vulnerable, strengthen the capacity of the armed forces, and to fund electricity subsidies. He said that the government had overestimated the tax take for 2025 and said that taxes need to be raised next year. The declaration of an economic emergency was criticised by the political opposition, which has called on the government to rein in spending to address the growing fiscal deficit. National daily El Tiempo reported on 20 December that constitutional court magistrate Jorge Enrique Ibáñez is considering convening an extraordinary session of the court to decide whether the state of economic emergency is justified.

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