Inflation in Colombia remains at levels not seen in more than 24 years.
According to the latest DANE report from January 2023, inflation in Colombia reached 13.25% and the only monthly fluctuation was 1.78%.
According to analysts, this increase has increased due to the high cost of food, housing and public services in the country.
How long will these increases in inflation continue?
In terms of expectations, the Bank of the Republic expects inflation in Colombia to start falling this year It is expected to close at around 8% in 2023. and continue its downward trend until 2025 so that it is close to the target corridor between 2% and 4%.
In this sense, the national government predicts that the cost of living in Colombia will decrease and reach over 7% by the end of the year.
For some analysts it is expected that the The maximum inflation ceiling in Colombia is between March and April. After that, they expect a decline to begin.
“We expect inflation in 2023 to weaken towards the second quarter and slow more sharply in the second half of the year, largely due to the lower dynamism of the Colombian economy,” said Laura Peña, economist at BBVA Research.
On the other hand, Some experts say this slowdown will be noticeable significant if you compare it with the increase that the indicator showed in the first three months of 2022.
“It will start to slow significantly, particularly given the comparison with monthly inflation in January, February and March, which was exceptionally high and will see food help inflation fall over the course of the year to the end of the year “9% at the end of this year,” said Sergio Olarte, chief economist at Scotiabank Colpatria.
It should be noted that one of the tools used by the Bank of the Republic is the increase in interest rates The current maximum is 12.75%..
Given this, experts believe that the issuer will continue to increase the indicator up to 13% at the March meeting and then they wait for it to take off.
