Following months of steady devaluation, Colombia’s peso on Monday morning opened at 1,947.5 against the dollar.
According to Yahoo Finance, the dollar appreciated 7.15% against the peso in the past six months. The Colombian peso is at its cheapest since December 1, 2011 when it briefly hit 1,949 against the U.S. currency.
The euro, which has suffered a loss in value following major economic problems in the south of the Euro zone, gained almost as much as the dollar to the peso; 6.79% over the past six months. One euro is now worth 2,548 peso.
The drop in value of Colombia’s currency followed years of appreciation during which exporters demanded government measures to avoid losing competitiveness on the global market.
Following several interferences by the government and central bank, the currency began to lose value in January of this year as commodity prices of oil and gold, two important export products, dropped.
Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas on Friday claimed the government intervention was a success and the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos may begin to wind down measures to influence the country’s currency value.
According to Bloomberg, the peso has seen the biggest decline after the South African rand and Brazilian real among 24 emerging-market dollar counterparts.
Bernd Berg, an emerging-market strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG in Zurich, told the US television network the peso may weaken to 2,000 by the end of the third quarter.
Sources
- Colombia Peso Heads for Weekly Plunge as Cardenas Says Job Done (Bloomberg)
- Yahoo Finance charts