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Weekly Report - 05 December 2024 (WR-24-48)

COLOMBIA: Finance minister quits as corruption allegations stack up

A mushrooming corruption scandal in the Colombian government is threatening to have serious economic repercussions. The finance minister, Ricardo Bonilla, resigned on 4 December. President Gustavo Petro had defended Bonilla for weeks amid claims of his involvement in corruption at the government’s disaster risk management unit (UNGRD). Bonilla appears to have shown little thanks to Petro for his loyalty; before resigning, he reportedly testified to prosecutors about alleged corruption by one of Petro’s sons and the president of the state oil company, Ecopetrol. Bonilla’s replacement, Diego Guevara, now has just 10 days to rebuild bridges with a hostile congress and persuade legislators to approve tax hikes. Failure to do so would force the government to slash next year’s budget or breach fiscal rules on borrowing.

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