Colombia’s central bank board said
slowing economic growth and internal demand may lead it to cut
lending rates further as long as inflation doesn’t spike.
“The new figures on hand confirm that productive activity
is weaker, predominantly in industry and commerce,” the bank
said. “As a result, growth in internal demand is expected to be
low.”
The seven policy makers on Dec. 19 unexpectedly voted to
cut the benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to
9.5 percent, the first reduction in three years, as the economy
showed signs of slowing more than estimated.
“The possibility of continuing to relax the country’s
monetary policy during 2009 will depend essentially on whether
inflation behaves as anticipated and on expectations with
respect to the targets,” the bank said. (Bloomberg)