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Andean Group - February 2011 (ISSN 1741-4466)

ECONOMY: The flavour of the month

When Colombia's minister of economy, Juan Carlos Echeverry, addressed a group of politicians, businessmen and academics in London in late January, the country was presented as being “the flavor of the month", given the widespread interest its security improvements has triggered in foreign investors. Echeverry's main goal is to reconcile two ostensibly contradictory ideas: as he put it, the government wants to create a welfare state a la colombiana, increasing public spending on key issues such as housing, education and healthcare whilst simultaneously maintaining the fiscal deficit at 4% of GDP, avoiding a significant increase in the current 3.9% fiscal deficit by increasing tax takings (see box below and sidebar).

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