Weekly Report - 19 July 2012 (WR-12-28)

COLOMBIA | Economic deceleration. This week the president of the national business association of Colombia (Andi), Luis Carlos Villegas, said that the organisation’s June poll indicated that both industrial production and sales registered a significant slowdown in May. Industrial production grew 2.2% in May, compared with 6.3% during the same month of 2011. Similarly, sales increased 6.8% year-on-year in May, increasing the Andi’s worries that low-investment levels in infrastructure could worsen both indicators further before year-end. Nonetheless, Colombia has registered the second-highest industrial production growth rate for the region in May after Chile, which posted a 3.4% expansion.