Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella at swearing-in ceremony on August 7. Credit: De La Espriella/FacebookPresident Abelardo De La Espriella vowed to reduce Colombia’s yawning budget deficit and make South America’s fourth-largest economy more attractive to investors, in his inaugural address on Friday. De La Espriella also vowed to restart oil and gas exploration at state-run Ecopetrol and to pursue “the development of responsible and sustainable fracking.” PUBLIC CREDIT DIRECTORUnder Petro, Colombia posted its biggest budget gap this century and was castigated by rating agencies. De La Espriella’s economic team is being led by Finance Minister Miguel Gómez, an economist and former congressman, while César Arias was named director of public credit last week. Arias previously served as head of public credit under Petro’s predecessor, Iván Duque, from 2018 until 2022.