Colombia’s peso currency
closed on Monday at its weakest level against the dollar in
two-and-a-half years, dragged down by global risk aversion and
expectations for deeper interest rate cuts, traders said.
The central bank, in an effort to stem the peso’s slide,
staged its second $180-million auction of “call” options in as
many days.
The peso ended down 0.44 percent at 2,446.5 per dollar, a
level not seen since July 2006. Monday’s loss extended its
slide since the start of the year to 7.87 percent. In the last
12 months, the peso has weakened by 24.77 percent.
Orlando Gonzalez, an analyst at the Banco Popular bank,
said risk aversion due to the global slowdown and expectations
for further interest rate cuts were pressuring the peso.
“(Those factors) are contributing to the dollar’s tendency
to firm,” he said.
Colombia’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by
50 basis points for a second consecutive month on Friday, and
policy-makers hinted that more reductions were likely.