Colombia’s economy will face a slowdown but not a recession in 2015, a top banking representative said on Friday. The chairman of the Banking Association of Colombia, Santiago Castro, opined that Colombia’s economic slowdown would fall short of a recession at the XXVII Congress of Treasury entitled “Real and Financial Sector: treasuries prepared for a changing world,” in Cartagena.
The economic slowdown “is just beginning … It will certainly be a complex year for the economy of our country,” stated Castro, before immediately clarifying that “the slowdown, though strong, can not yet be considered a recession” as the banker does not expect the GDP growth to drop below zero. Castro added his prediction that Colombia’s economy will grow between 3.5 and 4%, below the recently revised government prediction of 4.2%.