Colombian leader Santos shrugs off peso concern

Colombia’s manufacturers and non-commodity exporters, whose margins are shrinking, are complaining about the appreciation of the peso.

Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia’s president, says he understands their concerns but says the agricultural and industrial sectors combined represent only 20 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Energy is far more important. Thanks to the commodities boom, Colombia has been taking advantage of investor interest in the resource-rich parts of the country that were off-limits during the peak of its drug-fuelled, guerrilla and paramilitary violence.

Today Colombia is the region’s fourth-largest oil producer by volume and the world’s fourth-largest exporter of coal by volume.

Source: Financial Times