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Colombia economy grew 0.7% year-on-year in very first quarter, as market forecasted

Colombia's economy grew 0.7%. yearonyear in the very first quarter, the federal government's DANE. data agency said on Wednesday, satisfying market expectations. in a survey.

Growth was 2.7% in the very first quarter of 2023.

Expansion in between January and March was driven by the. farming sector, which grew 5.5%, public spending and. administration which grew 5.3%, and entertainment, which. registered growth of 5.2%, stated Piedad Urdinola, director of. government data agency DANE.

The utilities sector registered 4.5% development, while the. producing suffered a sharp contraction of 5.9% and the. financing sector diminished by 3%.

Private financial investment was down 13.4% in the very first 3 months. of the year, while the economy shrank 1.5% in March, DANE said.

The economy grew 1.1% in the very first quarter of this year. versus the fourth quarter of 2023, slightly below 1.2% growth. forecasted by experts.

Colombia's economy grew a slow 0.6% in 2023 in the middle of high. rates of interest and inflation pressures, in a sharp decline from. development of 7.3% in 2022 as the nation recuperated from the. coronavirus pandemic.

Analysts anticipate Colombia's economy will grow 1.3% this. year in the middle of persistent inflation, which has led the nation's. reserve bank to cut 150 basis points from its benchmark interest. rate.

At its meeting last month, the bank's board cut the interest. rate to 11.75%.

The first-quarter figures support our view that the main. bank is likely to provide another 50 basis point cut at its next. conference in June, instead of step up the rate of alleviating, said. Capital Economics in a note.

The federal government has stated it anticipates economic growth to hit. 1.5% this year, while the technical group of Colombia's main. bank has forecast a growth of 1.4%.

But Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla stated in a video after. the GDP figures were published that development could reach 2% this. year.

While experts expect Colombia's economy to grow 2.65% in. 2025, the central bank's technical group expects GDP to broaden. 3.2%.

(source: Reuters)