Colombia’s inflation hit a “turning point” last month when it slowed after almost two consecutive years of constant acceleration, the nation’s central bank chief said in an interview.
The economy was growing above potential, though it’s now responding to Colombia’s steepest-ever cycle of interest rate rises, Governor Leonardo Villar said on Friday in Sao Paulo, where he is attending a regional central bank event.
“We had the need to slow the economy and cool it down, and we are seeing the results,” Villar said in an interview on the sidelines of the event. “The latest inflation data is clearly a turning point.”
Colombia’s annual inflation rate, the highest among Latin American peers excluding outlier Argentina, fell to 12.82% in April. However, price rises are still the fastest in roughly a quarter century.
Policymakers raised their interest rate by 25 basis points to 13.25% last month, the highest since 1999. Economists surveyed by the central bank forecast that Banco de la República has already ended its tightening cycle and will start cutting borrowing costs in October.
Read more: Colombia Lifts Key Rate to Most Since 1999 After Market Dive
Gross domestic product expanded by 3% in the first quarter from a year earlier, an increase that was in line with the central bank’s estimates, Villar said.
The economy is heading to “a point that’s more compatible with potential after two years of extraordinarily high growth that generated excess demand,” he added.
Central bank analysts forecast economic growth will ease to 1% this year after a revised 7.3% expansion in 2022.
Read more: Colombian GDP Lags Expectations as Steepest-Ever Rate Hikes Bite
