"After a cordial meeting with President of the Republic Ivan Duque Marquez, Dr. Alberto Carrasquilla announced his resignation from the post of finance minister," the ministry said in a statement.
Carrasquilla, commenting on his departure, said that his presence in the government would make it difficult to quickly and effectively achieve a democratic consensus on the reform of the tax system, whose ideologist he was.
Duque earlier withdrew from Congress a draft tax reform and urged lawmakers to urgently discuss a new one after an attempt to approve a sharp increase in taxes provoked a nationwide strike and violent protests in cities of the country.
