BOGOTA, June 8 (Reuters) - Ratings agency Moody's on Thursday reaffirmed its BAA2 rating for Colombia and held its outlook as stable, citing the country's institutional framework and its ability to support prudent economic policy.

Colombia's debt and fiscal metrics will remain in line with those of similarly rated peers due to continued fiscal consolidation, which will be supported by a structural increase in government revenues, Moody's said in a statement.

"The stable outlook incorporates Moody's expectations that institutional arrangements will continue to play a stabilizing role, assuring that policy directives remain within the confines defined by the existing policy settings, particularly on the fiscal front," the statement said.

The ratings agency forecast a period of slower economic activity for Colombia in 2023 and 2024, while forecasting decreasing inflation, falling external imbalances and compliance with the fiscal rule.

"During the first year of President (Gustavo) Petro's administration, institutional checks and balances have been at work, preventing a major departure from Colombia's traditionally prudent policy management, allowing only for moderate changes in the country's policy setting," Moody's said.

"Congress and the judiciary have played a major role in this respect with resolutions from both helping to preserve the general direction of economic policy," the statement added.

Petro, the first left-wing president in Colombia's history, is struggling to push a health reform through Congress, with similar challenges to proposed bills to reform pensions and labor, even as a government majority coalition disintegrated due to fighting over the measures.

Changing political alliances in Congress will probably force Petro to review the bills to build political consensus, Moody's said.

"The resulting policies are likely to be conducive to preserving macroeconomic and fiscal stability," Moody's said.

Colombia's finance ministry applauded the stability of the ratings.

"The important thing is this reaffirmation with a stable perspective (...) in global circumstances where we have interest rates at 40-year highs and high inflation generating instabilities in the credit and debt markets," the ministry's Director of Public Credit, Jose Roberto Acosta, said in a press conference. (Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra Writing by Oliver Griffin; editing by Diane Craft)