Publications

Standard & Poor’s reaffirmed Colombia’s sovereign rating at BB+ with a negative outlook, highlighting economic recovery despite fiscal deterioration. The key now is sustainable growth, driven by investment. The next challenge will be Moody’s review, which still keeps Colombia at investment grade.

Overall, the past year has been positive in terms of the evolution of macroeconomic, fiscal and financial vulnerabilities in most countries globally.

The government maintains a firm commitment to fiscal balance while upholding a "zero monetary issuance" policy for all items arising from the public sector. The slowdown in inflation has stalled since May, remaining around 4% monthly, and economic activity shows signs that the recession may have ended in Q2 2024.

The indebtedness of the private sector remains below that of peer countries, though signs of deterioration in NPL ratios started to be seen. Banks’ FC liquid assets are solid enough to cover their ST external debt. FC credit evolution and swap policies of the CBRT will be decisive for banks’ FC liquidity.

Tax revenue was MXN 8,922 million (0.03% of GDP) below budget since the excise taxes on fuels intake was below budget despite its real annual increment of 195.1% in 1Q24.

The indebtedness of different agents remains below that of peers. The composition of external debt has been shifting among the borrowers since 2018. There is the increasing trend led by public, compared to the ongoing decline in the private sector.

Agencies’ ratings have remained relatively stable during 2023. Changes have been mostly positive in peripheral Europe, while US and France were downgraded by Fitch. The rating cycle has been mostly negative for Emerging Economies (EE), mainly due to specific idiosyncratic vulnerabilities.

Public revenue in the first semester was MXN 157,650 million (0.5% of GDP) below budget due to lower oil-related income as international prices of a crude oil barrel went down.