Colombia: Inflation falls within the Central Bank’s target range in January
According to the National Department of Administrative Statistics (DANE), consumer prices rose 0.63% over the previous month in January, a bigger jump than the 0.38% month-on-month rise in December. Prices increased in all categories, led by higher prices for food and healthcare.
Inflation dropped to 3.7% in January (December: 4.1%), re-entering the Central Bank’s target range of 3.0% plus or minus 1.0% for the first time since September 2017. The Bank’s decision to cut the benchmark interest by 50 basis points to 4.50% on 29 January, in a bid to stimulate higher economic activity, is likely to stoke inflationary pressures in the coming month.
In December—the latest month for which data is available—core consumer prices, which exclude volatile items including fresh foods and fuels, increased 0.7% over the previous month, which follows November’s 0.3% month-on-month rise. Conversely, core inflation inched down to 5.4% in December, from 5.5% in November.