Inflation figures from the Colombian government’s statistics body released Friday showed a 1.52% increase in the average cost of goods and service in Colombia during the first three months of 2014 and caused some farmers to praise the increase seen in the agricultural sector, said RCN Radio.
The first quarter 1.52% inflation figure released Friday by the National Administration Department of Statistics (DANE) is a 0.57 percentage point increase of the inflation rate over 2013’s 0.95% inflation level during the same first three months of the year.
March 2014’s inflation rate of 0.39% is an 0.18 percentage point increase from last March’s 0.21% inflation rate. Over the last 12 months (April 2013 to March 2014) Colombia’s inflation rate was 2.51% which represents a 0.6 percentage point increase in inflation rate from the same period last year (1.91%).
In March this year food product inflation measured at 0.61% from the previous month, said the DANE report. Some food products like potatoes (15.7%), onions (5.1%) and plantains (3.4%) saw large price increases while others like tomatoes (-8.6%) and carrots (-3%) saw price drops.
The overall increase in costs for agricultural goods is predicted to rise 3% from last year, said the President of the Agricultural Society of Colombia Rafael Mejia, reported RCN Radio. According to Mejia this creates stability in the agricultural economy.
“The danger is when the inflation begins to return negatively in sectors such as food.” This causes crop production and supply to be reduced, said Mejia.
MORE: Colombia likely to remain 3rd largest economy in Latin America: Analyst
The inflation of Colombia’s peso is relatively controlled compared to some other economies in Latin America. Argentina’s inflation is reportedly expected to reach 20% in 2014 which has helped allow Colombia to surpass Argentina as the third largest economy in Latin America.
Colombia’s economic growth was attributed to strong foreign investment, increased security and a commodities boom by a financial analyst with London based Captial Markets HQ in an interview with Colombia Reports.