Tag

Colombians today will put either rightwing candidate Iván Duque or leftist Gustavo Petro in office for the next four years.

Duque says that tax reform to cut the corporate rate below 30% is one of the ways Colombia can get back to 5% annual GDP growth.

“Colombia's creditworthiness could be pressured” if low growth persists and high fiscal deficits undermine the government’s push to reduce debt.

"This report highlights the challenging environment that Colombian consumers are experiencing," says Bancolombia.

S&P made no changes but suggested it could downgrade Colombia's sovereign rating if the country's fiscal debt burden does not improve within the next 18 months.

Though the increase was welcomed by the government, the 126.7 trillion pesos collected came in below the target of 130.1 trillion pesos.

Protestors hit the streets to express their opposition to the tax reform, VAT increase, and minimum wage raise.

Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas says the overhaul "is a difficult measure that will require a large sacrifice of all Colombians — but it is necessary."

If the story plays out as expected, Bancolombia believes that 2015 and 2016 will end up being bumps in the road in an ongoing growth trajectory.

The biggest risk for the economy is that Santos has now lost too much political capital to get tax reform passed this year.