UPDATE 1-Colombian court pauses Petro's economic emergency measures

The economic emergency gave Petro's government the power to make decisions by decree without authorization from Congress, a move that allowed for higher taxes ⁠in ‌an effort ⁠to raise 11 trillion pesos ($3 billion) to finance part of the 2026 ‍budget.

(Adds context; quote from official) BOGOTA, Jan 29 - Colombia's top court on Thursday ordered President ‌Gustavo Petro's government to pause an emergency decree that had been intended to boost ⁠government finances, pending a final court decision.

Petro's administration put the measures into effect in December after a tax reform bill aimed at ​raising 16.3 trillion pesos ($4.45 billion) failed to pass in ‍Congress. The economic emergency gave Petro's government the power to make decisions by decree without authorization from Congress, a move that allowed for higher taxes ⁠in ‌an effort ⁠to raise 11 trillion pesos ($3 billion) to finance part of the 2026 ‍budget. Colombia in June raised the 2025 fiscal deficit target to 7.1% ​of GDP, from an original 5.1%, prompting ratings agencies to ⁠downgrade the country's sovereign rating.

Petro had previously said that a suspension ⁠of the economic emergency mesures in Colombia, Latin America's fourth-largest economy, would make the country's debt more expensive, and Interior ⁠Minister Armando Benedetti on Thursday criticized the court decision. "It's not right. ⁠By temporarily ‌suspending the economic emergency, the mega-rich are being protected," he said in a post on X.

($1 = 3,665.97 ⁠Colombian pesos)

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