Reactions to the inflation data for the month of March presented by Dane

The inflation in Colombia It has already been declining for 12 consecutive months, since the data for the month of March of this year was located at 7.36%.

This result occurs at the same time as the fall in representative market rate (TRM) of the Colombian peso with respect to the US dollar, which this Thursday was below $3,800.

(More: Annual inflation as of March 2024 was 7.36%, as reported by Dane this Friday).

This new figure, however, is still distant from other economic data, such as the monetary policy interest rate data, which, despite the fact that it has also been showing a downward trend, experts still consider it high (12.25%).

Given this, National Government officials and business leaders reacted to this new data delivered this Friday by Dane.

(Read: Preliminary draft of the General Budget of the Nation for 2025 is filed: these are its bases).

One of the first to speak out was Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Ricardo Bonillawho assured that this may open the door to speeding up the rate reduction, also highlighting the monthly figure, which was 0.70%.

“We have that the decrease in inflation in the last 12 months is equivalent to 598 points, compared to the highest month of inflation we had, which was March of last year. A trend of reducing inflation is consolidated, which today leaves us with a real intervention rate of 489 points. This means that the Bank of the Republic has to continue lowering rates and that it can perfectly accelerate the decline. It is no longer useful for us to drop 25 or 50 points“said the portfolio manager.

(You can read: How much has the National Budget increased in the last five years?).

Alexander López Maya, director of the National Planning Departmentagrees that the data allows greater speed in the reduction of rates by the Issuer.

“(…) We hope that the Bank of the Republic will continue to reduce the interest rate, as it has done in recent months, in order to promote access to credit for all Colombians“, he said, on his X account.

(You can read: World economy is 'better than expected', except in poor countries: IMF).

In the same way, he thinks president of the Colombian American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Colombia)María Claudia Lacouture, who also agrees on the possibility of accelerating the rate reduction.

“The reduction in inflation in March reinforces a favorable perspective on greater control of inflation and supports the process of reducing interest rates by the Bank of the Republic, which addresses the economic growth challenge that the country is going through and facilitates the reactivation of consumption to boost the economy and avoid a further deterioration in employment“, said.

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