Economic Performance in the
first quarter of 2001
In the first quarter of 2001, the
Colombian economy continued the recovery towards potential although supply shocks
temporarily decreased growth figures. The supply shocks are related with a labor strike in
the beverages industry and the fall in investment in the mining sector. The rate of
inflation steadily decreased towards the new lower target for 2001, which is 8%. In fact,
the new target was reached in March and the forecast allows being optimist over of the
fulfillment of the goal for the end of the year. During the first quarter of 2001 the
current account of the balance of payments showed a deficit of 3.6% of quarterly GDP. On
the other hand, the rate of unemployment was supported in 19.7 %, being this one, the
highest in the history of Colombia and very high for Latin-American standards. The
continued achievement of the different targets in the monetary, fiscal and foreign sectors
are the basis for a sustained recovery of the economy in the medium run.
ECONOMIC
PERFORMANCE IN THEN FIRST QUARTER OF 2001 1/
| YEARS |
GROWTH |
UNEMPLOYMENT
RATE
(%) |
CURRENT
ACCOUNT
(% of
GDP) |
GROSS
INTERNATIONAL
RESERVES
(Months of
imports of goods and services) |
GDP
(%) |
CPI
(%) |
PPI
(%) |
| 1990 |
4.3 |
32.4 |
29.9 |
10.6 |
1.2 |
7.6 |
| 1991 |
2.0 |
26.8 |
23.1 |
9.4 |
4.8 |
11.6 |
| 1992 |
4.1 |
25.1 |
17.8 |
9.8 |
1.5 |
11.2 |
| 1993 |
5.4 |
22.6 |
13.2 |
7.8 |
-3.4 |
8.1 |
| 1994 |
5.8 |
22.6 |
20.7 |
8.0 |
-4.5 |
7.0 |
| 1995 |
5.2 |
19.5 |
15.4 |
9.5 |
-5.0 |
6.3 |
| 1996 |
2.1 |
21.6 |
14.5 |
11.3 |
-4.9 |
7.3 |
| 1997 |
3.4 |
17.7 |
17.5 |
12.0 |
-5.5 |
6.5 |
| 1998 |
0,6 |
16.7 |
13.5 |
15.6 |
-5.3 |
6.0 |
| 1999 |
-4,3 p |
9,2
|
12.7 |
18.0 |
0,1 p |
7,3 p |
| 2000 |
2,8 p |
8.8
|
11.0 |
19,7 p |
0,0 pr |
7,5 pr |
|
2001 * |
1,8 p |
7.8
|
10.9 |
19,7 p |
-3,6 pr*/2 |
7,2 pr* |
|
*: Upt to March.
p: Provisional. pr: Preliminar.
1/ Since 1994, the statistics correspond to the new measurement of the
Balance of Payment, according to the Balance of Payment Methodology of the 5th
International Edition of the Monetary Fund Balance of Payment Manual.
2/ This indicator is calculated over quarter nominal GDP in pesos,
published by DANE
Source: National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), National
Planning Department ( DNP) and Banco de la República. |
