BOGOTA Colombia's government on Saturday presented a budget proposal worth 502.6 trillion pesos ($127.8 billion) for 2024 to Congress, 19% greater than this year, the Finance Ministry said, an amount that would be the country's highest if approved.

Congress must greenlight the government's budget by Oct. 20. The proposal includes spending 94.52 trillion pesos for servicing debt, and 97.75 trillion pesos for investment.

"The 2024 budget is realistic," the finance ministry said in a statement.

Government ministers worked through Thursday night to finish the proposal, President Gustavo Petro said on Friday in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The proposed budget earmarks 70.5 trillion pesos for education, health, drinking water and other general purposes, and some 57.4 trillion pesos would fund the state pension system.

Petro, Colombia's first leftist president, has pledged a raft of social and economic reforms, including for sectors such as health and labor in a bid to fight poverty and inequality.

The labor reform was initially rejected by Congress but the government plans to reintroduce the bill.

The expert Autonomous Fiscal Rule Committee (CARF) has warned that if approved the reforms could impact the country's finances by leading to more costs, risking compliance with the fiscal rule, a mechanism designed to stop deterioration of public finances.

($1 = 3,932.04 Colombian pesos)

(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra and Julia Cobb Symmes; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Sandra Maler)