Foreign investment in January is the highest in eight months

After the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Colombia registered a growth of 57.7% in 2022, The beginning of the year was encouraging, although at a lower rate, according to the statistics of the Exchange Balance of the Banco de la República.

(Read: Citizen Income: how this subsidy will work and who will benefit).

In January the FDI in Colombia amounted to US$1,039 million and increased 6.12% compared to the same month of 2022, when that item reached US$979 million.

And as it has been happening for several years, lThe investment that arrives for oil and mining monopolizes a large part of the statistics.

In the first month of the year, US$885 million arrived in this sector, that is, 85.2% of the total, according to the Issuer’s figures, a percentage participation higher than that registered during all of 2022.

Incidentally, the FDI figure for January is the highest recorded in eight months in the country, since only until April 2022 was a higher figure presented (US$1,737 million).

(Keep reading: They are looking to allocate 30 areas for strategic minerals in 4 years).

For Édgar Jiménez, professor of Finance at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, the data from the Exchange Balance show that there are investment opportunities in Colombia and despite what is speculated about political issuesthere are indications that are read by foreigners and the sign of confidence is to bring the resources to the country.

He assured that the figure higher than US$1,000 million could give us reason to think that close to setting a record in terms of FDI this yearalthough you have to see the evolution month by month.

He also said that what you have to look at is that when there is an incremental flow of foreign currency, the pesos should appreciate. “If these data remain constant, it would not be ruled out that the dollar ends up close to $4,000, which would represent a 20% drop, which is within the possibleJimenez warned.

For its part, foreign portfolio investment that reached Colombia in the first month of the year was US$786 milliona figure that contrasts with a net outflow for the same month of 2022 for US$75 million.

Meanwhile, in January a Colombian investment abroad for US$94 million was presented, while in the same month of 2022 it had been US$135 million.

BRIEFCASE