The president confirmed that he will issue a transitional decree while the Council of State makes a substantive decision.
News Colombia.
In a presidential speech offered a few minutes ago, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, responded to the decision of the Council of State to provisionally suspend decree 1469 of 2025, with which the Government had established a 23.7% increase in the minimum wage.
The decree set the salary at 1,750,905 pesos and 2 million pesos with transportation assistance. The measure was paused after the order issued by the Second Section of the high court.
During his speech, the president assured that he respects and abides by the judicial determination. However, he maintained that, in his opinion, the decision should not have suspended the decree that established the minimum living wage. Despite this, he confirmed that the Executive will issue a new transitional decree while the Council of State adopts a substantive decision.
The head of state announced that the National Government will ask for clarification from Judge Juan Camilo Morales, rapporteur of the order that provisionally suspended decrees 1469 and 1470 of December 29, 2025, related to the minimum living wage and transportation assistance.
“First we are going to clarify that with Judge Morales. This means that the eight days that the Executive has to issue the new decree will have to be used more days for him to explain to us why this prevalent phrase is not in his order,” said the president.
New decree and eight-day deadline
The president indicated that the Executive has a period of eight days to issue a new decree while the high court defines in depth the legal situation of the salary increase.
At the conclusion of his speech, President Gustavo Petro specified that the suspension of Decree 1469 does not mean that the minimum wage is void. On the contrary, he announced that the Government will issue a new transitional decree to guarantee that the living wage continues to apply while the Council of State adopts a substantive decision.
The president explained that the new administrative act will maintain the concept of a minimum living wage, but will include additional technical studies that will be sent to Judge Juan Camilo Morales, as required by the order that provisionally suspended the measure.
In that sense, the Executive maintains that the increase initially signed was based on current economic conditions. However, it recognizes that the amount could be adjusted if new technical analyzes determine it.
In concrete terms, the Government’s message is that the minimum wage does not disappear or remain in legal limbo: it will remain in force through a transitional decree that will maintain the living wage principle while the high court defines the definitive legality of the increase.
