Colombia Buys Back Bonds

Colombia is planning to repurchase $700 million of euro and dollar-denominated bonds this month as the government seeks to protect itself from future swings of the peso against foreign currencies. The dollar bonds will have maturities between 2006 and 2033 and the euro-denominated bonds are set to mature in 2008 and 2011. Colombia’s government is seeking to cut the portion of its foreign debt as a percentage of overall debt to 40 percent this year from 42 percent in February.