LatinNews Daily - 02 April 2026

*Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has proposed a series of measures to mitigate the economic impact of the war in the Middle East. In a social media post, he expressed support for subsidising the cost of fertilisers and corn, building more social housing with renewable energy generation such as solar panels, encouraging banks to offer the lowest rates possible for mortgages in order to maintain housing demand and avert a “banking crisis”, and boosting government credit to the export sector in a manner similar to the cheap loans provided to peasant farmers. He also urged the public to limit the use of petrol and diesel where possible due to the risk of a prolonged oil shock. Petro again railed against the 31 March decision by the central bank (Banrep) to hike the benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points to 11.25%, accusing the bank of being “in opposition” to his government. Yesterday, Petro’s former finance minister José Antonio Ocampo (2022-2023) said that over 300 economists, former public officials, and analysts had signed a letter condemning the mounting tensions between the government and Banrep, which saw the current finance minister, Germán Ávila Plazas, storm out of a meeting with the bank’s directors on 31 March. In a social media post Ocampo shared a copy of the letter, which condemned “a weakening of the institutional respect that must govern the relationship” between the government and Banrep, and urged the Petro administration “to contribute constructively to the economic debate, respecting the independence of the bank and strengthening the channels of institutional dialogue”.

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