Colombia’s Central Bank Likely To Raise Interest Rate Friday

Colombia’s Central Bank is seen likely to increase the benchmark interest rate in its monthly monetary policy meeting on Friday. Continuing inflationary pressures will prompt the Bank to raise the rate from 8.75% to 9%, according to a survey carried out by Dow Jones. The Central Bank is targeting inflation of between 3.5% and 4.5% this year. Inflation for the 12 months through May was 6.23%, well above that target while consumer prices for the first five months of the year rose to 4.42%.