Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella announced on Sunday, 27 September 2026, in a televised address, that he had instructed the Ministerio de Hacienda (Ministry of Finance) and his economic team to open talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in search of a "negotiated way out" of the country's public finance crisis.
"The balance is in the red," the president said, describing the fiscal picture as the most critical in the country's history and arguing that the state can no longer cover debt service and operating costs at the same time. "Public finances cannot take any more," he said.
The numbers behind the announcement
Projections circulating in the Colombian market put the 2026 central government deficit between 7.2% and 7.4% of GDP, with a primary deficit of about 3.3%. Without corrective measures, those figures could rise in 2027 to 9.4% and 4.5% respectively, according to estimates cited by Bloomberg Línea.
Public debt stood close to 60% of GDP at mid-2026, according to Portafolio, which also noted that the magnitude 7.4 earthquake recorded in August could put further pressure on the public accounts.
The government estimates external financing needs of roughly 88 trillion Colombian pesos (about 26 billion US dollars) for 2027, an unprecedented amount for the country.
The fight with the previous administration
De la Espriella blamed the deterioration on his predecessor, Gustavo Petro, whose government he accused of over-borrowing and poor budget management. He cited ongoing investigations into bodies such as the UNGRD (Colombia's national disaster risk management agency) and Fiduprevisora, and said a parallel economy fed by illicit money masks the real severity of the financial picture.
What may come next
IMF officials are expected in Colombia this week for preliminary discussions, according to Bloomberg Línea. The president did not specify which instrument the country will seek: a stand-by arrangement, an extended fund facility or the renewal of a flexible credit line each carry different conditions.
Bank of America analysts had already flagged that a Fund programme would work as a "plan B" if Congress blocks the adjustment, and that it could cut the risk premium and lower borrowing costs in exchange for fiscal discipline commitments. That is precisely where the discussion returns to the legislature: an IMF programme does not replace the passage of reforms, it conditions it.
With information from Infobae, Portafolio and Bloomberg Línea.
