Colombia’s Peso Holds Firm As Courts Jolt The Fiscal Story And Stocks Digest Gains

Key Points

• Colombia’s top court temporarily froze emergency tax measures after Congress rejected a major revenue bill.
• The ruling tightens limits on executive power and signals that institutional checks still bite.
• Budget uncertainty now hangs over 2026 fiscal plans, even as the peso and stocks stay resilient.

Colombia entered January 30 with a rare combination of political drama and market calm.

The Constitutional Court suspended the government’s economic emergency decree and the tax measures issued under it, a provisional step that halted the package immediately while judges prepare a final ruling.

The emergency had been declared after Congress rejected a tax reform designed to raise 16.3 trillion pesos ($4.45 billion). The decree sought about 11 trillion pesos ($3.0 billion) in new revenue for the 2026 budget, giving the executive broad room to legislate by decree.

For investors, the bigger signal was institutional, not ideological. The court’s move drew a clear line: fiscal policy still needs a durable legal foundation.

That matters because Colombia has been wrestling with a wider fiscal gap after the government lifted its 2025 deficit target to 7.1% of GDP from 5.1%, and a credit rating downgrade has already sharpened scrutiny of funding plans.

President Gustavo Petro warned the suspension could raise borrowing costs, while senior officials argued the decision shields entrenched interests. The court’s message, however, was about process and constitutional limits.

Markets, meanwhile, behaved like they had been preparing for turbulence. USD/COP traded near 3,651.6 per $1 in early pricing, still inside the tighter range that has formed after January’s sharp downtrend.

The charts show why the peso has been difficult to shake: the longer trend remains favorable to the currency, but rebounds in the dollar keep stalling under stacked moving averages.

Support sits around 3,649 then 3,628–3,614, with resistance clustered near 3,676–3,700 and a higher ceiling around 3,745. Equities were digesting gains rather than breaking.

The MSCI COLCAP hovered near 2,493, after slipping 0.52% in the prior session. Momentum remains elevated after a strong run, which makes pullbacks more likely even without fresh bad news.

The next test is policy credibility. Banco de la República meets today, and traders are watching whether the board signals a firmer stance to contain inflation expectations.

With the courts tightening the legal perimeter on taxes, monetary policy and budget discipline are now doing more of the market’s heavy lifting.

Top Winners

• ETB (+7.53%)
• Bancolombia Pref (+1.68%)
• Grupo Bolívar (+1.59%)
• The peso (USD/COP near 3,641 in the prior session)
• Gold (April futures up 1.84% to $5,438.21)

Top Losers

• ISA (-3.07%)
• Grupo Sura (-2.44%)
• Grupo Argos (-2.14%)
• The dollar index (futures down 0.22% to 96.06)
• Coffee (March down 1.71% to $345.00)

This is part of The Rio Times’ daily coverage of Colombian markets and Latin American financial news.

For context on regional markets, see Brazil’s Ibovespa for the same session.

Also tracking regional peers: Chile’s IPSA closed the same session.

Related coverage: Brazil’s Morning Call | Colombia’s Job Boom Hit a 25-Year Low in Unemployment, but 2