Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, reduced wages for members of Congress by about 30% on Tuesday, in a move the government described as necessary amid a budget crunch ahead of elections in the first half of the year.
The wage reduction, carried out through a decree issued Tuesday, will take effect in July, once a new Congress has been elected. Colombia holds legislative elections in March, followed by presidential elections in May.
Congress members in Colombia earned about $13,000 a month last year, a figure the AP reported was about 32 times greater than the country’s minimum wage. The disparity has previously drawn scrutiny, and some lawmakers had proposed reducing their own pay, but those initiatives failed multiple times amid opposition from legislators who argued they needed higher wages for reasons that included investing savings into future political campaigns.
Under the decree, Petro eliminated a portion of lawmakers’ compensation known as the “bonus for special services,” introduced over a decade ago to help cover relocation costs for members of Congress. Without the bonus, the AP reported that wages received by Congress members would drop to about $9,400 a month, in a country where most workers earn about $500 or less per month.
In its decree, Colombia’s government said lawmakers’ current pay is “disproportionate in relation to the average income of the (nation’s) population and the country’s economic reality.” The government also said “Austerity measures are necessary to the extent that they don’t affect the fundamental rights of citizens.”
The measure drew praise from some lawmakers, including Senator Angélica Lozano, who described it on X as “a minimal measure of equity.” But Senate President Lidio García criticized the wage reduction, saying Petro was trying to “punish” legislators who did not approve his social and economic reforms, including a tax bill rejected by Congress in December. García added that when Petro was a congressman for almost 20 years, Petro received the special services bonus without complaining, according to his post on X.
The government has said it is seeking to increase its budget by $4 billion this year, and that the added funds are intended to cover payments to health insurance companies, pay for fuel subsidies and invest around $700 million in infrastructure. The AP reported the infrastructure investment is intended to help the military counter drone attacks from rebel groups.
The wage cuts were announced as public spending under Petro has ballooned to levels that exceed spending during the COVID-19 pandemic. The AP reported Colombia’s national government had a budget of approximately $134 billion in 2025.