Economy

Despite the global vagaries of the mining business and potential volatility in hydrocarbons, a combination of economic liberalisation, free trade agreements and entry to a variety of trade blocs has assured steady growth for Colombia over the past few years. After expanding 6.6% in 2011 and 4% in 2012, Colombia’s economy experienced a slowdown during much of the first half of 2013, registering GDP growth of just 2.6% in the first quarter. Nonetheless, the sound performance of the construction sector, along with strong public investments, recovery in the hydrocarbons industry and restored consumer confidence, allowed Colombia to finish 2013 with solid growth of 4.7%. While the first quarter of 2014 displayed a slight slowdown, with GDP expanding by just 2.9%, large-scale investments in infrastructure point to continued growth in 2014, with the central bank forecasting GDP to expand by 5%. This chapter contains interviews with José Ángel Gurría, Secretary-General, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); Enrique García Rodríguez, Executive President, CAF development bank of Latin America; and José Darío Uribe, Governor, Central Bank.