The Ministry of Finance held an auction of Treasury Titles (TES) worth 450 billion pesos, denominated in Real Value Units (UVR), maturing in 2031, 2041, 2055, and 2062. The Comptroller General backed the operation, confirming its legality and that it does not create new debt, while President Gustavo Petro defended the move to manage government liquidity.
On January 22, 2026, the Ministry of Finance conducted an auction in Colombia's public securities market for 450 billion pesos in UVR-denominated TES. Initially called for 300 billion, demand exceeded expectations with offers totaling 1.4 trillion pesos—4.7 times the base amount—triggering overadjudication clauses to allocate an additional 150 billion, per Resolution 2218 from September 2025.
Cut rates were: 5.970% for 2031 maturity, 6.148% for 2041, 6.179% for 2055, and 6.160% for 2062. This placement, valued at about US$4.950 million, aims to finance the 2026 budget amid low-liquidity periods and lower external interest rates.
The Comptroller General verified the operation's full legal compliance and stated it did not involve new debt issuance, but rather a routine buy-sell to bolster liquidity, akin to the prior TES B sale of 23.2 trillion pesos from December 2025 to January 2026. Funds were received partly in dollars (US$5 billion, to be gradually monetized) and 3.87 trillion pesos in local deposits. However, it warned of future pressures, with amortizations nearing 89.6 trillion pesos in 2029 from global bond maturities, TES B in pesos (43.72 trillion), TES B in UVR (19.73 trillion), and pandemic-era Solidarity Titles (9.74 trillion).
President Gustavo Petro welcomed the backing on his X account: "For 2026 we will simply pass the weeks of lower liquidity in the government and take advantage of a lower level of external interest rates." Replying to former President Álvaro Uribe, he added: "We seek to make the growth of debt due to its implicit interest rates and especially the excessive internal interest rate with which the Bank of the Republic punished my entire Government [...] sustainable through the increase in taxes on the richest in the country".
The 10-year TES rate has risen from 8.63% in 2022 to 12.35% in 2026, underscoring the need for higher economic growth, lower debt rates, and budgetary efficiency to manage debt responsibly.
