The board of Colombia’s central bank decided to raise the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.5% Friday according to a statement released by the board.
The seven member board said it came to the decision taking into account the facts that in June consumer inflation increased for the second consecutive month, international prices of basic goods remains high as growth in emerging markets continues to be strong, and the growth of Colombian GDP in the first trimester at 5.1% was higher than expected.
The board hopes that economic activity will increase and has upped its forecast range to between 4.5% to 6.5%. Twenty-four of twenty-five analysts polled by Reuters Monday predicted that the central bank would raise the interest rate.