Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA (Reuters) – A series of former Colombian finance ministers criticized Andean President Gustavo Petro on Thursday after he tweeted Especially questioned the central bank’s decision to raise interest rates last week.
Last Thursday, the bank’s board of directors voted by a majority vote to raise interest rates by 100 basis points to %, in line with other central banks, as world monetary policy authorities are battling rampant inflation.
However, Petro’s comments follow a report on Wednesday by the government’s DANE statistics agency, which showed that inflation rose 0.0 in September. 68% – Food price increases by 1.61% – Considering 68 – Monthly inflation is 11.44%.
“Food prices continue to drive Colombia’s inflation rhythm; this time not Because of international inflation, but because of floods…Is it useful to raise interest rates to curb inflation?: No,” the president said
At least five former finance ministers have criticized Petro, including at the ex-President Juan Camilo Restrepo, who served under Andres Pastrana, and Mauricio Ca, who was part of former President Juan Mauricio Cardenas government of Manuel Santos.
“The market’s bleak view of the president’s shooting at the central bank has stripped the credibility of all the country’s economic institutions,” Restrepo told local media.
Colombia Risk Analysis founder Sergio Guzman told Reuters via WhatsApp that Petro was not the first president to disagree with the central bank’s decision, though he added that the comments represented A certain degree of political risk in the future.
“Petro’s bark is worse than his bite. While that’s a bad sign, it’s not unprecedented and he can’t really make it A major change and thus to the country’s monetary policy,” Guzman said.
Colombian peso closed down 0 at 4.68%,613.50 against the U.S. dollar, which stockbrokers attribute to Petro’s comments on the central bank’s interest rate decision, and other comments from the president about a possible tax to address the so-called “eating capital” use of banks and the monetary system .
