Colombia’s Government issued the 2027 General National Budget by decree on Thursday, after the bill’s approval in Congress fell through because of a procedural error.
The total amount is 634.9 trillion pesos, or 200 billion dollars at the current exchange rate, of which 391.38 trillion pesos, or 122 billion dollars, are for operating expenses, 155.43 trillion pesos, or 48.7 billion dollars, for debt service and 88.14 trillion pesos, or 27.6 billion dollars, for investment.
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Opposition sectors described the Government’s handling of the budget as improvised.
The Senate and the Chamber approved different texts in one of the bill’s articles, and conciliation was not achieved before the October 20 deadline set by law for concluding that process, the last of the congressional debates, namely the plenary sessions.
The Government therefore had to issue the Budget by decree in the form in which it emerged from the joint economic commissions.
¡Se le cayó el presupuesto chimbo a @ABDELAESPRIELLA! Por hacer las cosas a las patadas, terminaron enredados entre dos versiones distintas y ahora el Gobierno pretende expedirlo por decreto.
Tanta improvisación con más de $634 billones de los colombianos exige responsables. ¡La… pic.twitter.com/Uivsc6N4kf
— Oscar Benavides (@ODBenavidesA) October 22, 2026
Resources for earthquake victims, health and energy subsidies added during the plenary sessions will be reduced because of the situation, Senator Alejandro Ocampo affirmed.
Representative María Fernanda Carrascal considered that Congress’s servility to the Executive vitiated the legislative process and denounced that the approved budget showed the Government’s true priority as more debt and less social investment, with debt service growing 46 percent while cuts hit the most vulnerable.
After the events, President Abelardo de la Espriella dismissed Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara.
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