Colombia's government said on Friday it posted a small surplus in April after a deficit in the year-earlier month, but over the first four months of 2004 ran a deficit about the same as in the previous-year period.
The central government - whose accounts do not include the Central Bank, state-owned companies or local governments - posted a surplus of 12 billion pesos ($4.6 million) in April, compared to a deficit of 390 billion pesos ($148.9 million) in the month in 2003, the finance ministry said.
In the first four months of the year, it accumulated a deficit of 4.22 trillion pesos ($1.61 billion), slightly below the deficit of 4.33 trillion pesos ($1.65 billion) in the same period of 2003.
Under the terms of its $2.2 billion standby loan accord with the International Monetary Fund, Colombia has pledged to keep its central government deficit to a maximum of 13.69 trillion pesos ($5.2 billion) for 2004, equivalent to about 5.6 percent of gross domestic product.
The ministry said taxes rose in April, thanks to increases approved last year, outstripping growth in spending. Debt interest payments were almost unchanged from April 2003.
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