BOGOTA: Colombia's central bank will hold the benchmark interest rate at 5 percent through the end of the year, before trimming it in January, according to a survey of analysts conducted by the bank and released on Thursday.
At its October meeting, the central bank's seven-member board surprised the market with a quarter-point cut. The board next meets Nov. 24.
Analysts from 43 banks and brokerages said in the survey the board would cut borrowing costs again in the first month of 2018, reducing it by 25 basis points to 4.75 percent.
Further reductions to the rate, which has been trimmed by 275 basis points since December, may help boost still-sluggish growth in Latin America's fourth-largest economy, which has been battered by low domestic consumption and a loss of oil income.
The government dropped its full-year growth estimate for 2017 to 1.8 percent this week, after disappointing third quarter growth figures were released.
Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas, who represents the government on the bank board, said the board should continue to keep an eye on low expansion.
Analysts' inflation expectations for this year were down to 3.96 percent, from 4.07 percent in last month's poll, falling just inside the bank's 2 percent to 4 percent target range.
Consumer prices will be up 0.11 percent in November, those surveyed said, the same figure recorded in November 2016.
Meanwhile, inflation expectations for 2018 were down to 3.42 percent, compared with the 3.5 percent predicted in last month's poll.
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