Central Banks

Colombian Central Bank Defies Petro and Cuts Rate to 11.25%

  • Policymakers lowered benchmark rates half percentage point
  • President Petro and banking groups have urged faster easing
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Colombia’s central bank cut its benchmark interest by half a percentage point to 11.25% on Friday, defying government pressure to accelerate the pace of monetary easing to revive economic growth.

Four of the seven-member board backed the decision, while two argued for a bigger reduction of three quarters of a percentage point, bank Governor Leonardo Villar told reporters after the meeting. One member was absent from the meeting for “justified reasons”, the bank said.