The Central Bank of Colombia Friday surprisingly decided to lower the interest rate by 25 basis points to 7.50 percent to support the recovery of the economy and to push inflation towards the target set for the coming semester.
The Pacific Alliance must improve integration of financial systems to spur investment in key areas such as infrastructure, finance ministers from the four member nations said on Thursday. The group, composed of Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and Peru, has already reached several accords in areas such as free commerce and immigration rules, but admitted that significant opportunities for integration remained.
Uruguay and Peru are the first Latin American countries in line for a possible credit rating hike by Moody's Investors Service, at a moment when sovereign upgrades are expected to become more scarce in the region, a senior analyst with the ratings firm said.
Colombia only has enough oil to last another eight years and must urgently step up exploration efforts to locate more reserves, Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas said.
The IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde praised Colombia as a member with the capacity to support the multilateral organization with “funds” and “services”, something which in the past was not possible. Lagarde made the comments after meeting with Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos in Bogotá where she underlined the “magnificent moment” of the Andean country’s economy.
Colombia’s outgoing Finance minister Juan Carlos Echeverry said on Friday that the country’s GDP overtook Argentina’s thus making Colombia’s economy the second largest of South America and third of Latinamerica, behind Brazil and Mexico.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos moved Energy Minister Mauricio Cardenas to head the finance post on Thursday in a surprise move. At the midpoint of his four-year term, Santos asked all 16 ministers to resign, including Finance Minister Juan Carlos Echeverry, and set the stage for a cabinet shuffle aimed at shoring up his slumping approval ratings.