During yesterday’s Council of Ministers meeting, Colombian President Gustavo Petro denounced that part of the debt inherited from the Ivan Duque administration does not appear in the state’s accounts, referring the reasons behind budget deficit.
The president stated that this debt was inherited from the management of his predecessor and that the government paid nearly half of it to Ecopetrol back in 2023, but without recording it as debt in the accounts.
Similarly, Petro noted that the other factor disrupting the budget balance was the repayment of the loan acquired during the pandemic from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), valued at US$5.6 billion. This loan, negotiated by the previous administration of President Duque, was agreed to be repaid over three years.
Colombia’s Petro denounces that part of Ivan Duque administration’s debt was not in the state’s accounts
During yesterday’s Council of Ministers meeting on Monday, March 31, Colombian President Gustavo Petro denounced that part of the debt generated by the government of Ivan Duque (2018-2022) was not reflected in the state’s accounts.
Petro was referring to 75 trillion pesos (approximately US$18 billion) in subsidies that the state paid to the Ecopetrol state company for fuels. The president stated that this poor accounting practice impacted the execution of the country’s subsequent budgets.
Additionally, Gustavo Petro revealed that during 2023, his government paid Ecopetrol a total of 36 trillion COP (approximately US$8.6 billion), creating an imbalance in that year’s accounts relative to 2024.
“Transfers were made, and there was simply no report to the elected government. They did not include this debt in the nation’s accounts; they fiscally strangled us,” Petro asserted while explaining the origin of the fiscal deficit Colombia currently faces.
The president claimed that the current financial situation stems from a ministerial decree authorizing the collection of 2023 taxes and the advance collection of part of the following year’s revenue.
“This made it appear as though there was very high revenue in 2023 and very low revenue in 2024, but the truth is that 36 trillion COP from a 75 trillion COP debt left by the previous government was transferred to Ecopetrol,” he explained.
The president argued that “this mistake was an economic contradiction, a grave error, because we unnecessarily stalled the 2023 economy, which grew by just 0.7%.”
Petro criticizes previous Finance Minister for repaying the debt in 2023
However, Petro’s criticism extended further, targeting his 2023 Finance Minister, Jose Antonio Ocampo, for ordering the debt repayment that year. “The Finance Minister [Jose Antonio Ocampo] came up with the idea that Ecopetrol could be paid in one go in 2023. And for that, he made the advance payment,” the president stated.
Petro urged the current Finance Minister, German Avila, to “find a way for that debt to remain in the national accounts: when you submit reports to the risk of rating agencies, that payment should be recorded. The gasoline deficit must somehow be reflected to clarify that it was larger in 2022 and completely swept away the fiscal framework of 2023,” he reiterated.
In this regard, Petro acknowledged that he made a “serious error” by appointing Ocampo as Finance Minister during his first administration. The criticism also extended to another liberal politician, Alejandro Gaviria, former Education Minister and member of his 2022 cabinet.
“We brought in Mr. Ocampo, a prestigious Colombian economist with several international roles, who had previously served as Finance Minister… we brought in Mr. Alejandro Gaviria and wanted to be generous with the political forces that had lost the elections [in 2022],” Petro said, calling the decision “an immense error.”
Petro previously addressed the Duque government’s debt
It is not the first time Gustavo Petro has called out the debt inherited from his predecessor, President Ivan Duque. One year ago, he referenced the debt generated by loans Colombia took out during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Former President Duque, I had to pay the debts you left behind when you poorly fought the pandemic,” Petro recently stated on his X account, adding that the country recorded one of the worst Covid-19 mortality rates in Latin America.
At that time, Petro already mentioned the massive debt from fuel subsidies. “Subsidizing gasoline was a true robbery of Colombia’s poor. All we needed was to install solar panels in the homes of the people with low-income,” he declared.
In fact, the current Colombian government decided in 2022 to eliminate these subsidies. The highly controversial decision, opposed by beneficiaries, was implemented through a program of fuel price increases. Gasoline prices rose over 70% in three years, followed by diesel.
Mi mayor error en el gobierno. pic.twitter.com/E0IKrFTS3p
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) April 1, 2025