The board of Colombia’s central bank left the base interest rate unchanged at 5.25% Friday.
It based its decision on several pieces of economic data, it said in a press release — such as inflation, internal demand, growth in the manufacturing sector, credit interest rates, and the price of oil and commodities.
The average rate of inflation has stayed around the 3% mark.
Internal demand — which had been increasing with each trimester — has decreased, and now stands at 7.9%, as it did at the beginning of 2011.
Growth has slowed in the manufacturing sector in the first three months of 2012. The growth of credit has also remained high, meaning that Colombian homeowners are becoming more and more indebted, as well as real and nominal interest rates for credit increasing in the last 12 months.
The price of oil has continued an upward trend and the prices of basic goods which Colombia exports remain at high levels.
The central bank has increased rates nine times in 13 months in a bid to control inflation in the face of a “robust economic growth.” The government statistics agency DANE announced the Colombian economy grew by 5.9% in 2011.
