One hundred years of territorial public finances in Colombia

Using historical series of revenues and expenditures executed by the different levels of government for the period 1923-2020, this document describes the evolution of fiscal imbalances between the national government, departments, and municipalities in Colombia. Four moments of territorial public finances in Colombia are identified. The 1910s and 1920s represent a first moment of strengthening the fiscal autonomy of subnational governments. With the Liberal Republic in the 1930s, a second period characterized by centralizing reforms that sought to strengthen the income of the central national government began. In the 1960-1990 period, the existing fiscal imbalances were corrected with the increase in transfers, the creation of decentralized institutes and a new territorial tax statute. One last moment begins with the Political Constitution of 1991, which promoted decentralization and paved the way for reforms that built the current regulatory framework.