Colombia Set for Rate Decision

Analysts are expecting Colombia’s Central Bank to keep the country’s benchmark rate at 4.5% just like it did at the last meeting in August. Monetary authorities lifted rates higher between February and July this year, hiking them from 3% to 4.5% before pausing. “Part of the explanation as to why we [raised rates] was related to what we were seeing in credit growth and also real-estate prices,” Colombian Central Bank President Jose Dario Uribe told LatinFinance at the IMF meetings in Washington last weekend. Asked about interest rate policy going forward, Uribe said: “You take the decision based on all the information you have available at that moment. We will see what happens. The main uncertainty is what is going to happen in Europe.” With inflation at around 3.2%, price appreciation is within the 2-4% target, he noted.