Banco de la Republica will buy the U.S. dollar through competitive auctions, the bank said in a statement late June 20. The purchases replace the $150 million in dollar put options the bank sold monthly. Policy makers also said they “unanimously” decided to leave the key lending rate unchanged at 9.75 percent, matching the forecast of 23 of 39 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.The peso fell 1.2 percent to 1,694.85 per dollar at 9:57 a.m. in New York, from 1,675 on June 20, according to the Colombian foreign-exchange electronic transactions system, known as SET-FX. Earlier, it declined as much as 1.73 percent, its biggest decline since May 7.The yield on Colombia’s benchmark 11 percent bonds due July 2020 fell 11 basis points, or 0.11 percentage point, to 12.03 percent, according to Colombia’s stock exchange. The bonds’ price rose 0.654 centavo to 93.558 centavos per peso. (Bloomberg)
