This Sunday took place in the Plaza de Bolívar, located in the center of Bogotá, the presidential inauguration of Gustavo Petro, who officially became the first center-left head of state in the country’s history.
“I will develop the national industry, the popular economy and the Colombian countryside. Without distinctions or preferences. We are going to accompany and support everyone who strives for Colombia”, he specified in the middle of his first speech.
The price of the dollar in the country has had some changes in recent days and this Friday, August 5, it again registered an upward trend. The day was marked by the official unemployment figures in the United States.
According to the indicators of the Colombian Stock Exchange, the North American currency will start the week slightly above 4,300 pesos, once again passing the barrier of 4,200 pesos.
The Financial Superintendence, likewise, pointed out that the Representative Market Rate (TRM) for the beginning of the day on Monday, August 8, will be 4,337 pesos.
It is worth mentioning that the US currency has risen about 400 pesos since June 19, the day on which the leader of the Historical Pact was elected as the new president. However, one of the main reasons for the volatility of the dollar in the country is due to a possible global recession.
Petro’s victory, without a doubt, has generated a lot of nervousness in the different sectors of the economy, since he is going to be the first center-left head of state that Colombia will have.
Faced with these concerns, Jackeline Piraján -economist at Scotiabank Colpatria- indicated in Bloomberg recently that the price of the dollar would close this year close to 4,200 pesos, as a result of international and national fluctuations.
“The currency will continue to fluctuate. These could intensify if we have more aggressive announcements by the Federal Reserve in the withdrawal of its monetary stimulus”, pointed out.
The main economist of BBVA Research, Alejandro Reyes, assured in WEEK that, for now, they are not seeing an exchange rate below 4,000 pesos, but, on the contrary, both this year and in 2023, the currency would be around 4,050 pesos.
“Eventually, the waters are going to calm down a little later, because markets tend to anticipate what they expect to happen in the future. The path of increases in interest rates by the FED and the possible recession of the American economy are already being incorporated into the value of assets”initially stated.
Later, Reyes added: “We are very close to discounting a scenario of economic slowdown and the rise in interest rates.”
The expert finally assured in this medium that, just as the price of the dollar has risen dramatically, it can also fall quickly, so that, when this “storm” passes, around September, there would be “a gradual convergence to levels that make more sense for the economic reality that Colombia is experiencing.”