Foreign Direct Investment Grows in ‘Other’ Sectors as Petroleum, Mining Decline: Banco de la Republica
The latest quarterly report from Colombia’s currency regulator (Banco de la Republica) shows that foreign direct investment (FDI) in petroleum and mining in Colombia during first quarter (1Q) 2016 dropped sharply year-on-year (y-o-y), to US$1.2 billion, from US$3 billion in 1Q 2015.
However, FDI in “other” sectors (outside of petroleum and mining) rose sharply y-o-y, to US$942.8 million in 1Q 2016, from US$639.9 million in 1Q 2015, the report shows.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investing in Colombia dipped to US$734 million in 1Q 2016 versus US$1 billion in 1Q 2015, according to the report.
On a related front, Banco de la Republica co-director Carlos Gustavo Cano pointed out in an April 15 presentation in Bogota that while FDI in petroleum and mining fell 56% y-o-y and foreign portfolio investment fell 28%, Colombia’s industrial output rose 7.9% y-o-y in February and the “tendency is toward recuperation” of national industry — in large part because of Colombian peso devaluation versus the U.S. dollar.
However, exports from Colombia to its oil-dependent neighbors in Venezuela and Ecuador have continued to suffer, he added.
Meanwhile, Colombia’s gross national product (“PIB” in Spanish initials) growth rate in 2016 is seen dipping to 2.5%, from 3.1% in 2015, while inflation so far this year is around 8% — although full-year 2016 inflation is likely to hit about 6.7%, he showed.
