Colombia President Gustavo Petro Vows to Keep Diesel Subsidies in Place


(Bloomberg) — Colombia President Gustavo Petro said his government will keep diesel subsidies in place going into the new year while allowing local gasoline costs to fluctuate in line with international prices.

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“There will be no harm to truckers and public transportation as long as we will maintain the subsidies,” Petro said in a year-end speech late on Saturday. “But we will promote a policy of transforming energy to cleaner sources.”

The administration has managed to control inflation, and the government will send Congress a bill changing how electricity prices are calculated, he said. “We do not want more tariff formulas that allow speculation and permit a few companies to obtain extraordinary profits from the pockets of the population,” Petro said.

Petro is presiding over an inflation slowdown that allowed the central bank to deliver its first interest rate cut since 2020 on Dec. 19. At the same time, his leftist administration is working to advance key reforms to help vulnerable segments of the society. This month, the lower house of Congress approved the government’s health-care reform, which seeks to limit the role of the private sector, and officials raised the minimum wage by 12%.

Read more: Colombia Should Lower 35% Corporate Tax Rate, Petro Says

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