The Colombian government expects to close 2021 with an economic growth of 9.7%.

Bogotá, December 15 (EFE). Colombia’s government improved its growth forecast for 2021 this Wednesday and expects to close the year with a positive 9.7% change in GDP that, according to President Ivan Duque, will be the best performance in 100 years.

“As of September, the economy was growing at 10.3%. We did a review with the Ministry of Finance’s technical team and confirmed that the forecast is 9.7%,” Duque said at the opening of the new offices. National Federation Council of Bogota.

The president stressed that if that happens it will be “the most important economic growth in 100 years”, indicating a “real and dynamic revitalization” in Colombia.

This new forecast improves on that previously proposed by the government which was 8.5%.

This is mainly due to the positive performance of retail sales and industrial industrial production in October of this year, which grew by 14.2% and 10.1% compared to the same month of 2020, respectively.

“The growth this year is higher than that of 2019 and shows that it is a collective victory for the country,” Duque said.

The latest data available in Colombia shows that the economy grew 5.7% in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter and 13.2% compared to the first quarter of July-September 2020, putting it behind Chile, where the region’s economy is the highest growing.

The Colombian economy came in from a quarter of a contraction of -2.8%, primarily driven by the restrictions imposed on the third peak of the epidemic and the national strike demonstrations between April and June. EFE

jga / cpy