Gustavo Petro<\/a><\/span><\/span> lashed out at Colombia\u2019s central bank Wednesday evening, saying that the country\u2019s weak economic growth is due to restrictive interest rates that are throttling internal demand.<\/p>\nMost Read from Bloomberg<\/p>\n
His comments come on the heels of a government report posted earlier in the day that showed first-quarter output lagged economists\u2019 expectations while March economic activity had its worst performance in more than three years.<\/p>\n
The situation would be more dire if it weren\u2019t for the government\u2019s counter-cyclical fiscal policy, the leftist leader said in a post on its X account, which has prevented the Andean nation from suffering an economic recession.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the interest rate strangles the Colombian economy, my government\u2019s countercyclical action keeps it afloat,\u201d Petro said. \u201cThe red numbers in the private sector are established by the drop in housing that drags down industrial products for construction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gross domestic product expanded 1.1% in the first three months of the year from the previous quarter \u2014- a little more than half the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg \u2014 while the March GDP-proxy fell 1.5%.<\/p>\n
Read more: Colombian GDP Lags Forecasts, Bolstering Case for Faster Easing<\/p>\n
Petro, and his Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla, have made repeated calls for the central bank to accelerate reductions in the policy rate, which is the highest among Latin American inflation-targeting economies.<\/p>\n
Since December, policymakers have decided in split votes to lower borrowing costs by 150 basis points to 11.75%.<\/p>\n
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek<\/p>\n
\u00a92024 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Bloomberg) — President Gustavo Petro lashed out at Colombia’s central bank Wednesday evening, saying that the country’s weak economic growth is due