A survey released Thursday by Colombia’s Central Bank predicts that inflation will reach 3.6% in 2010, down from the 3.75% level predicted in February’s survey.
March inflation is expected to be 0.63%, up from its 0.5% level in the same month a year earlier.
The Central Bank’s inflation target for 2010 is between 2 and 4%. Inflation in 2009 was only 2%, its lowest rate in over 50 years.
The bank decided to keep Colombia’s interest rate at its current all-time low of 3.5% at the last three monthly monetary policy meetings. The rate was slashed by 6.5 points in successive meetings over the course of 2009, down from 10% in December 2008, in an attempt to boost Colombia’s economy during the global downturn.