The president indicated that by 2025 the figure will continue to increase
by the El Reportero‘s wire services
RT
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, explained this Tuesday the reason why his country’s external debt maintains a “worrying” growth, as indicated last Sunday by former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez.
“Uribe is right, the growth of the (public) debt is worrying. I saw it at 76 billion in 2022 and next year it will be at 116 billion (dollars),” Petro said through the X social network.
The Colombian president explained that this economic behavior is the consequence of the commitments that Colombia made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the government of Iván Duque, widely defended by Uribe, who calls for “austerity and savings.”
“What happened? That the IMF debt of 5,000 million dollars that Uribe’s friend, Mr. Duque, chose as a method to finance the payroll subsidy of large companies due to the covid situation is paid in these two years Go into debt to subsidize the richest,” said Petro, who denounced that his detractors ask that the population pay that debt, “precisely when real interest rates have grown in the world and in Colombia.”
“The irresponsible economic management of the past government and the deep corruption that was unleashed led the country to bankruptcy. The solution proposed by this government: the 2022 tax reform was destroyed by a judicial decision,” questioned the president.
Petro indicated that in response to this situation, his administration will present “an economic reactivation plan to Congress” and a proposal for a Financing Law “to replace what was lost in the tax reform.” For this reason, he urged Uribism not to boycott these actions.
“I hope that Dr. Uribe’s bench helps the country and does not sabotage the measures,” he said in reference to the opposition Democratic Center.
Other data
The Bank of the Republic of Colombia, in its report released in June based on figures obtained until March 2024 by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), indicated that the Colombian external debt, which includes public and private debt, is of 196,280 million dollars, which represents 50.8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This figure, added the governing body, grew by 74 million dollars compared to December 2023. 83 percent
of this amount corresponds to payments of overdue liabilities, mainly loans and bonds.
Until the first quarter of 2024, the public external debt was estimated at 113,338 million dollars (29.3 percent of GDP); while that of the private sector reached 82,942 million dollars (21.5 percent of GDP).
The former senator and current director of the Department of Social Prosperity (DPS) of Colombia, Gustavo Bolívar, added that during the Petro Government, the president will also have to comply with short-term debt payments acquired by Duque, for an amount close to ” 400 billion dollars”, a difference that doubles that paid by previous administrations, which according to the former senator, “never” more than 200 million dollars were paid.
