Colombia president-elect seeks public debt refinancing

BOGOTA, July 2 (Reuters) - Colombia's ‌President-elect Abelardo ​De ​La Espriella said on Thursday he has instructed incoming Finance Minister Miguel Gomez to travel to ‌Washington to meet international banks and multilateral lenders as ⁠part of an effort to refinance the country's public debt and ease ‌pressure on state finances.

In ‌a post on X, De La Espriella said Colombia's net debt is at historically high levels and that refinancing ​it would be one of several measures his government will adopt to restore fiscal order and rebuild confidence ⁠in the economy.

• He said Gomez had been told to begin meetings with international ​banks and multilateral financial institutions to seek better debt maturities and borrowing costs.

• The move comes ​as investors watch for signs of ‌how the new government, which takes office on August 7, will address Colombia's worsening fiscal ⁠outlook.

• Gomez said on Wednesday that the fiscal deficit stands at between 7% and 8% of gross domestic product, above the ⁠levels reported by the outgoing government.

• Earlier in June, the finance ministry ​raised its 2026 fiscal deficit target to 5.3% of GDP from 5.1%. Colombia posted a fiscal deficit of 6.4% of GDP in 2025.

• ‌The Autonomous Committee of the Fiscal Rule said last week that Colombia faces a funding ‌shortfall of 39.6 trillion pesos ($11.55 billion) to meet its 2026 ⁠fiscal target, and that without ‌further measures the ​2027 gap would reach 46 trillion pesos.

(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Aida ‌Pelaez-Fernandez)

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