La política fiscal en el siglo XX en Colombia: una visión global

Abstract

"This paper presents a global view of the Colombian fiscal policy in the 20th Century. After an average tax burden (national taxes) of about 5% of GDP during most of the Century, it reached 14% in 2003. Government expenditures today are at its highest level since 1898, mainly because increased transfers (to subnational governments, pensions and others) and interest payments. During the century, the fiscal imbalances were soon corrected through higher incomes and lower expenditures, which allowed government to meet its intertemporal budget constraint, as illustrated by the relative stability of its public debt levels. The more recent and current fiscal imbalances led to an unprecedented public debt level (54% of GDP ), which requires structural reforms and additional fiscal adjustment to make it sustainable."