BOGOTA, March 1 (Reuters) – Colombia’s current account deficit widened 19.3% to $21,446 million in 2022 from a year earlier, driven by a higher inflow of profits from foreign investments and a wider trade imbalance. This was announced by the Central Bank on Wednesday.
The balance in the red was compared to one of $17,981 million in 2021.
The current account deficit, which records the real and financial flows that the country exchanges with the rest of the world, was equal to 6.2% of the gross domestic product (GDP), which is 0.6% higher than in the first quarter of 2009. 2021.
“The country’s current deficit in 2022 is caused by the deficit balance of factor incomes, foreign trade of goods and foreign trade of services,” the issuing bank said in a statement.
In addition, in 2022, foreign direct investment in the fourth economy of Latin America increased by 81.7 percent compared to the previous year and amounted to 17,048 million dollars.
Most of the investment growth was explained by the acquisition bids of Grupo Nutresa and Grupo SURA.
Last year, 32% of foreign investments in our country were in financial and business services, 26% in mining and oil, 11% in transport and communications, 9% in manufacturing, 9% in trade and hotels, 6% in electricity. , the remaining 7% to other sectors of the economy.
At the same time, Colombia’s capital outflow in 2022 is estimated at $11,166 million, which is 15.1% higher than in 2021.
Last August, Gustavo Petro took office as the first left-wing president in the history of the South American country.
However, in the fourth quarter alone, Colombia’s current account deficit decreased by 18.1% compared to the third quarter to $4,987 million due to a narrowing of the foreign trade imbalance and a decrease in outflows for foreign profits. investment.
The deficit between October and December was equal to 6.1% of GDP, which is 0.9% lower than in the third quarter.
The technical team of the central bank predicts that the current account deficit will decrease to 3.9% of GDP by 2023, due to the expectation of a slowdown in domestic demand due to a decrease in economic activity. (Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra. Editing by Luis Jaime Acosta)
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