The Colombian government has expressed concern for the country’s economy as exports dropped by 4% for the month of July.
In July this year the external sales dropped by 4% against the same month in 2011, which represents a figure of over $4.8 million in July 2011 to just over $4.6 million last July.
Minister of Finance Mauricio Cardenas attributed the drop to the European financial crisis, low growth in the U.S., and the economic crash in Japan, according to newspaper El Espectador.
A 13.1% decrease in the exports of coal, fuel and mining products contributed to the overall drop according to the finance minister, pointing to a very pronounced reduction in the export minerals such as nickel and coal.
Cardenas said that intervention measures announced by the central bank last week are related to what is happening in the Colombian export sector because what they seek to avoid is an overevaluation of the peso, a decisive appreciation of our currency with an encouragement to maintain a dynamic export sector.
Despite the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. coming into effect in May, the overall exports to that country have been decreasing since April. The minister however stressed that not all exports have suffered in the same way and that trade with Venezuela and Ecuador had high growth rates this year.