Colombia doesn’t plan to take measures to tame the peso’s appreciation other than the dollar purchases carried out by the country’s Central Bank, though the bank is likely to step up its intervention, Finance Minister Juan Carlos Echeverry said.
On Wednesday, the Colombian Central Bank started to buy “at least $20 million” a day on the spot market to curb the peso, which had appreciated 13% since the end of 2009. The bank plans to keep on buying for at least four months.
The bank bought close to $60 million over the first three days.
Echeverry said the bank’s dollar purchases is the main tool to keep the peso stable. The bank is able to buy much more than the $20 million a day, he added.
Echeverry is one of the central bank’s seven board members.
The government’s target is to keep the peso stable and the dollar purchased contributed to the stabilization.
The peso ended at 1,798.5 Colombian pesos to the dollar on Friday from COP1,790.35 on Tuesday. (Inti Landauro / Dow Jones Newswires)