Eugenio J. Alemán, Senior Economist at Wells Fargo, explains that growth in Colombia weakened but beat expectations during 2015 and also was better that other countries in the region.
Key Quotes:
“With a sequential growth rate of 0.6 percent in the last quarter of 2015, the Colombian economy posted a 3.1 percent rate of growth in full-year 2015 compared to 4.4 percent for 2014.”
“Given the strong headwinds faced by the Colombian economy during the past few years, its performance in 2015 is probably a testament of good overall macroeconomic policy management by the country. Despite the significant depreciation of the currency and the acceleration in inflation during the past year, the 3.1 percent increase in real GDP in 2015 puts the country in a good comparative position versus its Latin American neighbors, with probably the only exception being that of Panama, which borders Colombia to the northwest.”
“Still, economic conditions are probably going to weaken further in 2016 as many of the conditions that negatively affected that economy in 2015 will remain in place and some will probably deteriorate even further during the rest of 2016. However, we do not expect the Colombian economy to go into recession, just to grow at a slower pace than in 2015.”
“Colombia has grown at an average of 4.3 percent during the last 15 years, an impressive feat for a Latin American economy. Our expectation is for the Colombian economy to continue to outperform the rest of the region even as it struggles to repeat the performance of the past decade and a half.”
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