President Alvaro Uribe had originally intended to cut 40,000 public sector jobs, but Montenegro said on 2 July, 'It's reasonable to expect that the original target [...] will be surpassed'.
The government intends to reduce sharply its public expenditure in order to bring its budget deficit in line with the level demanded by the IMF, and this year alone it has implemented a series of far-reaching reforms. Most recently, the state-owned telecom company was liquidated, Colombia's largest pension and health service provider was restructured, and the publicly controlled energy company, Ecopetrol, underwent radical changes.
According to Montenegro, however, 'The process of state reform is not over. It will continue and this is the direction we are headed in the long term.'
The government's reform programme, which has so far prompted few protests, is expected to increase in intensity if and when a referendum on Uribe's austerity measures gains approval from the constitutional court.
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