New criticisms of President Petro for how he calculates investment in GDP data for 2025
President Gustavo Petro Photo: Andrea Puentes Presidency of Colombia
TL;DR
- Colombia's economy grew 2.6% in 2025, up from 1.5% in 2024.
- Former minister Juan Carlos Echeverry attributed growth to unsustainable government spending and healthy families, not private investment due to economic uncertainty.
- Echeverry cited weak "gross fixed capital formation" as a structural brake on growth.
- President Petro argued Echeverry confuses "gross fixed capital" with investment, stating only machinery and equipment purchases should count as productive investment.
- Petro highlighted a 9% growth in machinery and equipment purchases, indicating productive investment, and attributed the housing construction slowdown to interest rate hikes, not business uncertainty.
- The Dane reported that for 2025, GDP grew 2.3% annually in the fourth quarter, with a 0.1% increase from the previous quarter, suggesting near stagnation.
- Final consumption (4.2%) and government spending (7.1%) supported growth, while gross fixed capital formation fell 9.3% in Q4.
- Housing investment decreased by 8.5%, while machinery and equipment grew by 1.8%.
- Critics accuse Petro of selectively presenting data and misinterpreting indicators like Gross Fixed Capital Formation.