Colombia’s economy will likely grow more than 2% in 2010 compared with
2009 as a result of the rebound of the country’s largest trade partners
and the world economy in general, central bank chairman Jose Dario
Uribe said Monday.
Latin American economies, for instance, are expected to grow 2.3%
next year compared with a 2.6% contraction projected for this year,
Uribe said.
Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, the country’s finance minister, recently said he expects the economy to grow 2.5% next year.
Uribe said the economy likely contracted in the second quarter.
“It’s very probable that the economy also contracted in the second
quarter of the year. But the economy is expected to grow in the second
half of the year, compensating for the drop of the first half,” Uribe
said, reiterating that the economy will probably post zero growth for
the full year.
The economy will be hit by lower export revenues as the country’s main trade partners, the U.S. and Venezuela, contract.
The Colombian economy entered into recession after reporting two
consecutive quarterly contractions versus the prior year. The economy
fell 1% in the fourth quarter of 2008 and 0.6% in the first quarter of
this year. (Dow Jones)