Colombia: Inflation comes in at highest level since July 2016 in March
Consumer prices increased 1.00% in March over the previous month, a smaller increase than February’s 1.63% increase. The softer rise was primarily driven by a slower increase in prices for housing and utilities. In addition, price pressures for food and non-alcoholic beverages softened.
Inflation climbed to 8.5% in March, which was up from February’s 8.0%, thus moving further above the Central Bank’s 2.0–4.0% target range. March’s figure was the highest inflation rate since July 2016. Consequently, the trend pointed up, with annual average inflation rose to 5.1% in March (February: 4.5%). Lastly, core inflation rose to 6.9% in March, from February’s 6.4%.