Colombian industrial output contracted more than twice as much as analysts had expected in March, led by a slump in vehicle sales.
Industrial production shrank 11.5 percent in March from a year earlier, the national statistics agency said today in a report, the biggest drop since April 2009.
The result was worse than all 21 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey, whose median forecast was for a 4.5 percent contraction.
Manufacturers have been hit by a rally in the peso and the weak global economy, according to the central bank.
Policy makers will discuss whether to extend a dollar purchase program at the central bank’s May policy meeting, Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas said in a radio interview today. Cardenas told RCN Radio that the strong currency is the “mother of all problems” for Colombian industry and agriculture.
The peso has rallied 22 percent since 2008, the biggest rally among 24 major emerging market tracked by Bloomberg after the Chilean peso. The central bank said in January that it would buy at least $30 million per day between February and May.
Retail sales rose 0.9 percent, higher than the -0.1 percent forecast in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. The vehicle industry contracted 31 percent, while paper and card output fell 18 percent. Oil refining rose 9.8 percent from a year earlier.
The result was distorted by the Easter holidays falling in March, Hector Suescun, an analyst at Banco de Bogota, said in a phone interview.
bloomberg.com
The result was worse than all 21 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey, whose median forecast was for a 4.5 percent contraction.
Manufacturers have been hit by a rally in the peso and the weak global economy, according to the central bank.
Policy makers will discuss whether to extend a dollar purchase program at the central bank’s May policy meeting, Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas said in a radio interview today. Cardenas told RCN Radio that the strong currency is the “mother of all problems” for Colombian industry and agriculture.
The peso has rallied 22 percent since 2008, the biggest rally among 24 major emerging market tracked by Bloomberg after the Chilean peso. The central bank said in January that it would buy at least $30 million per day between February and May.
Retail sales rose 0.9 percent, higher than the -0.1 percent forecast in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. The vehicle industry contracted 31 percent, while paper and card output fell 18 percent. Oil refining rose 9.8 percent from a year earlier.
The result was distorted by the Easter holidays falling in March, Hector Suescun, an analyst at Banco de Bogota, said in a phone interview.
bloomberg.com
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