Economy & Business - March 2022

COLOMBIA | Tariffs suspended in response to inflation. Colombia’s trade ministry announced on 3 March that it has temporarily lifted tariffs on 165 products as part of efforts to ease mounting inflation. A trade ministry statement said that tariffs had been “reduced to 0% for six months” on products which had previously been subjected to tariffs of “5%, 10%, and in some cases 15%”. Colombia’s minister of trade, industry and tourism, María Ximena Lombana Villalba, said that the tariff reduction “will mitigate upwards pressures” on prices, which she said had been caused by supply change disruptions. Annual inflation hit 8.01 % in February, according to the national statistics department (Dane), while monthly inflation stood at 1.63%. The suspension of tariffs will apply to a wide range of products, including food and drink, grains, agricultural seeds, malt extract, and certain tools.