After several debates between the National Government and the Joint Economic Commissions of the House of Representatives of Colombia and the Senate of the Republic with respect to the General Budget of the Nation for 2026, The parties agreed for a text for $ 546.9 billion, reducing $ 10 billion, compared to the initial amount.
According to the Ministry of Finance, Said budget approved by Congress includes the Financing Law for $ 16.28 billionthat is, it was also reduced, since it initially sought to raise $ 26.3 billion.
The proposal of the tax reform includes several changes, among which the highest taxes of Financial sector, insurance, fuels, alcohol and tobacco; VAT adjustments (for example, a gradualness for VAT in fuels to rise progressively) and what religious entities with commercial activities taxes under the ordinary regime.
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But the initiative faces strong criticism and risks indicated by different actors. The Fiscal Observatory of the Javeriana University warns that about $ 7.8 billion from the projected collection They would correspond to taxes that legally belong to departments and the Capital District, so they would not enter the National Fund.
In addition, experts such as Anif and the Comptroller attract attention On the lack of real adjustments to spending, the pressure of the interests of the debt (One in three pesos of the net collection goes to the payment of interest), and the weak economic growth dynamics such as factors that can put in check the viability of the estimated income.
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The path of PGN2026
The national government initially proposed a budget of $ 557 billion by 2026, but this proposal faced resistance in Congresswhere the joint economic commissions rejected the official presentation, forcing a political negotiation to adjust the amount of spending.
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The background strokes of the debate revolved around fiscal sustainability – especially the fiscal rule that the Executive has suspended -, The rhythm of public spending, social and territorial priorities, and the risk of financing part of the expense by debt.
One of the main questions has focused on the high operating spending component against public investment. Although the Government states that the investment will grow by 2026, the official data shows that there will actually be no real increase compared to 2025: There are discrepancies between what the Ministry of Finance presents and what the economic transparency platform reports.
See more: the payment of interest ‘is swallowed’ one in three pesos of the tax collection
In this regard, the CARF (Autonomous Committee of the Fiscal Rule) indicated several weeks ago that an adjustment of the order of $ 45.4 billion to be able to sustain the proposed structure without leading the country to have higher deficits of the projected. Starting from this analysis, this would mean that it would still have to cut $ 35.4 billion.
Thus, Senate sources told Portafolio, that the 2026 budget “has life” and the purpose in the Senate and Chamber plenaries is to subtract 16.3 additional billion and approve them in 530.6 billion. “All special authorizations will also be eliminated,” the sources added.
Valentina Delgadillo Abello
Portfolio journalist
