President Petro's Interest Relief Will Come at a High Cost: The Country's Debt Will Increase by $310 Billion in the Future
The 2025 fiscal figures presented a better outlook than expected by the Ministry of Finance, mainly due to interest savings derived from debt management and the appreciation of the Colombian peso against the dollar. That is, the government balanced its books a little more, however, an analysis reveals that future debt grew by COP $310 trillion.
TL;DR
- Colombia's 2025 fiscal deficit was 6.5% of GDP, below the government's target of 7.1%.
- Financial engineering by the Ministry of Finance resulted in $28 trillion (1.5% of GDP) in interest savings for 2025.
- Future debt obligations increased by $310 trillion (17% of GDP) between 2026 and 2062 due to short-term debt management operations.
- The primary deficit in 2025 reached 3.7% of GDP, the highest in recent history outside of the pandemic and late 1990s crisis.
- The appreciation of the Colombian peso against the dollar helped reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio.
- Projections for 2026 indicate a primary deficit of 4% of GDP and a total deficit of 7.6% of GDP.
- National government debt reached COP $1.205.7 trillion (65% of GDP) by January 2026, a level not seen since the pandemic.