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The 2.8% figure is the best result in any second quarter since 2015 and up from the 2.5% growth seen in the same period during 2017.

While the peace process and divisive politics in Bogotá will be thornier issues, Duque's management of the fiscal deficit will prove tricky even amid rising GDP growth rates.

This quarterly GDP growth represents an uptick from the meager 1.8% full-year growth in 2017 and is well above the 1.3% growth in the first quarter of 2017.

As with the nation at large, most areas of Colombia are struggling to achieve growth. But certain segments and indicators are showing positive signs.

"Latin American economies remain vulnerable to a sharp deceleration in the Chinese economy and its knock-on effects in commodity prices," said Rui J. Pereira of Fitch Ratings.

“Colombia's creditworthiness could be pressured” if low growth persists and high fiscal deficits undermine the government’s push to reduce debt.

The 25-point cut narrowly won the day among central bank board members with a 4-3 vote. All three dissenters preferred another 50-point reduction.

One analyst firm believes the move "to step up the pace of interest rate cuts is a clear response to the weakness of the recent activity data."

The IMF is predicting 2.3% GDP growth for Colombia in 2017, a decrease from the 2.7% expansion the institution had forecasted in October.

"I don't have the slightest doubt that the worst has already passed," said Cárdenas while predicting better economic growth this year than the 2.0% seen in 2016.