The Central Bank of Colombia confirmed its benchmark interest rate is to remain at the record low of 3% following April’s shock half-point drop, reports Caracol Radio.
The decision came from the bank’s board led by Jose Dario Uribe,who said he saw no reason to change the rate.
Colombia’s economy has been recovering more rapidly than expected, according to Uribe, without generating inflationary pressures.
Neighboring Peru and Brazil, however, have seen much faster growth and have both been forced to raise interest rates.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) prediction put Colombia’s growth rate in 2010 at 2.25%, which would be the lowest in South America after Venezuela.
Colombia’s annual consumer inflation for April increased by 1.98% on the same month in 2009.
The Andean nation saw favorable results in both retail sales and industrial output in March 2010, which rose by 9.3% and 4.5% respectively on the previous year.
Colombia’s inflation is expected to reach 3.28% in 2010 and 3.58% in 2011, according to a survey carried out by a bank earlier in May.
Last year’s annual inflation hit a 54-year low of 2% as domestic consumption fell and the strengthened peso brought down the price of imported goods.
