Colombia gov't willing to compromise to get labor, pension reforms through: new minister

The Colombian government is willing to make compromises on labor, pension and health reform proposals to get them through congress so long as the changes are viable, new Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla told Reuters on Tuesday.

The Colombian government is willing to make compromises on labor, pension and health reform proposals to get them through congress so long as the changes are viable, new Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla told Reuters on Tuesday. "What we want is an ample, serene, calm discussion where there are alternatives and not simply to return to a game of polarization with each of the issues," Bonilla said in an interview.

The pension and health bills are the government's priorities for now, he said. The reforms are key policy promises of leftist President Gustavo Petro, who took office in August last year.

Bonilla was named to his post in a cabinet reshuffle at the end of April as Petro made changes amid the fracturing of his congressional coalition over the health reform. "The person changed, not the policy," Bonilla said of market concerns about his appointment.

Bonilla previously worked as the finance secretary for the city of Bogota when Petro was the mayor. The pension bill would strengthen the state pensions administrator in an effort to give benefits to more people, although some Wall Street analysts say it could pose a risk to capital markets and public finances.

The labor reform, proposed in March, would reduce working hours and boost overtime pay, measures critics say could hurt job creation because it would increase salary costs. The government's growth projection of 1.3% is under revision, Bonilla added, and slowing economic growth is a top challenge for the country.