Colombia’s Valencia Vows $14 Billion Deficit Cut, Oil Push

Colombian presidential candidate Paloma Valencia is pledging to cut the nation’s budget deficit by 50 trillion pesos ($14 billion) and reinstate fiscal rules abandoned by the current administration, aiming to defuse what she describes as a ticking time bomb of unsustainable debt.

In a government plan published Monday, the conservative senator says she would also seek to refinance public debt with multilateral institutions and increase public investment. Pledging to reverse President Gustavo Petro’s ban on new oil exploration projects, she aims to boost exports and accelerate Colombia’s growth to 5% a year.