The Colombian government has announced it will pay exporters 60-100 pesos (US$0.04-0.06) per US dollar to compensate exporters affected by this year’s 20.44 per cent increase in the value of the Colombian peso against the weak US dollar.
The overall aid package totals some US$120m, half of which will be funnelled into the agriculture export sector, including the banana and fruit trades.
The treasury has also pledged to partially re-pay employee payroll taxes to avoid further redundancies in the country’s most important export sectors.
Despite the move, analysts and ex-ministers have warned that the measures may not be enough if they are not accompanied by a reduction in interest rates.
