Colombia rates: happy at last?
Colombia’s central bank has finally decided to take a breather.
After cutting rates for five consecutive months – including last month’s surprise 50bps cut – the bank decided on Friday to hold its benchmark rate at 3.25 per cent. Continue reading »
Colombia gets upgraded to BBB
Colombia has hit another milestone. On Wednesday, Standard & Poor’s raised the Andean country’s foreign debt rating to BBB, the second-lowest investment grade, putting its rating on par with Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Panama.
“Reaching this grade is a landmark for Colombia,” said Mauricio Cárdenas, the finance minister. Continue reading »
Colombia: looking for growth, gets tough on banks
After two sluggish quarters of growth, Colombia’s finance minister, Mauricio Cárdenas (pictured), is determined to reignite the economy – even if that means cornering banks to lower interest rates.
That’s understandable. After all, while the country’s central bank has been busy slashing interest rates since last July, the banks have not really been passing on the cuts. Continue reading »
Colombia cuts rates – again
Here we go again: Colombia’s central bank cut the Andean country’s benchmark rate for a fourth straight month. Policymakers trimmed a quarter point to 3.75 per cent – the lowest in Latin America.
In the longest easing cycle in over four years, starting in July last year, the very orthodox Banco de la República has chopped 150 basis points off its overnight lending rate in an attempt to reignite a slowing economy. Continue reading »
Labour unrest hits Colombian mining
Colombia’s “locomotive”, as the government likes to call its ambitious mining and energy plans, appears to be getting a cog in the wheel.
On Thursday, labourers in the Andean country’s largest coal exporting mine, Cerrejón – a joint venture between BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Xstrata – went on strike over wages and benefits. Continue reading »
Colombia: economic growth trails neighbours
After last month’s slap in the face when Brazil released shocking GDP data at only 0.6 per cent, Colombia followed suit on Thursday announcing surprisingly weak third-quarter growth. The Andean country’s economy grew just 2.1 per cent in the third quarter compared with the same period last year.
The drag was caused by an acute slowdown in the construction sector as well as sluggish manufacturing. The growth pace was not only much slower than the 7.5 per cent expansion in the same quarter last year, but it was also the weakest in three years.
Uribe’s delicate balancing act
Photo: Bloomberg
He’s been named Latin America’s central banker of the year (okay, by a trade publication) and re-appointed to be his institution’s general manager for a final four-year term in October. Analysts praise him for promoting growth while keeping inflation in check. Meet Colombia’s central bank chief, José Dario Uribe. Continue reading »
Colombia: on the up, peace or not
Colombia’s government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, resumed peace talks in Havana on Wednesday, hoping to end one of the world’s longest running conflicts that absorbs 2 per cent of the country’s GDP, according to some estimates.
But rating agencies seem confident about the Andean country, whatever the outcome. Continue reading »
Colombia: trading in a virtuous circle
Photo: Bloomberg
For years many people thought that Colombia only produced coffee and cocaine. Now, after an impressive turnaround, people think Colombia only produces coal and oil.
However, armed with his Adrien Brody looks and a PhD in Economics from an Ivy League university, Juan Pablo Córdoba, the president of Bogota’s stock exchange, the BVC, is ready persuade you that the local financial market is the future. Continue reading »
Guest post: Argentina’s GDP is bigger than Colombia’s
By Hector Valle of FIDE and YPF
In a recent post, Juan Carlos Echeverry and Luis Fernando Mejía presented an exercise in which they compare the growth rates and sizes of Argentina’s and Colombia’s economies. From their analysis they conclude that Colombia has surpassed Argentina as the third largest economy in the region. However, the methodological drawbacks of their exercise are significant enough to invalidate the results. Continue reading »
Argentina hits back at Colombia (via twitter) [updated]
What’s the fastest way to upset Argentina these days? Just mention the C word.
In a guest post on beyondbrics this week, Juan Carlos Echeverry, Colombia’s former finance minister and Luis Fernando Mejía, head of macroeconomic policies at Colombia’s finance ministry, recounted how technical staff “crunched some numbers” and came to the conclusion that Argentina’s status as the region’s third-biggest economy was under threat. Continue reading »
Colombia holds rates, ups dollar buying
After cutting interest rates for two consecutive months, Colombia’s central bank is taking a break. On Friday, the bank held its benchmark rate steady at 4.75 per cent and announced plans to expand its dollar purchasing programme in a bid to ease pressure on the peso. Continue reading »
What slowdown? Colombia Q2 growth hits 4.9 per cent
There is an adage in Spanish that goes: “Pain never lasts more than one hundred years.” At first sight, in any case, for the Colombian economy the pain seems to have lasted a quarter.
The recently-appointed finance minister, Mauricio Cárdenas, announced Thursday in Bogotá that Colombia’s gross domestic product grew 4.9 per cent in the second quarter, after expanding only 4.7 per cent in a rocky first quarter that was held back by weak growth of industry, oil output, and exports. Continue reading »
Colombia gets new energy and mining minister
It was another intense week for Colombia after the initial announcement that the government of Juan Manuel Santos has been holding “exploratory” peace talks with leftwing FARC rebels.
In order for Santos to be able to do that in full, he needs to have his so-called “cabinet for peace” in place. It took a while, but he finally got there, having ratified his agriculture minister and appointed the new interior and environment members of his cabinet, on Friday.
But much of investors focus will probably be on the appointment of Federico Renjifo (pictured), as energy and mining minister. Continue reading »
Farc peace talks: what will it mean for investors?
Start spreading the news: the Farc guerrillas and the Colombian government agreed to begin peace talks during a meeting in communist-led Cuba, local media reported on Monday.
The Andean country has attracted record foreign direct investment in recent years as the military has been forcing the guerrillas deeper into Colombia’s jungles. Would this mean foreign investors are expected to rush in (even) more? Continue reading »
| About this blog | Headlines email | Blog guide |
| Regulars | Series | Archive |
Older entries
Stefan Wagstyl
Rob Minto
Pan Kwan Yuk
Jonathan Wheatley
Heba Saleh