For Colombia, the year 2008 was characterized by a decreasing economic growth. This was generated by a number of factors, the key ones being the contractionary policies on the monetary and fiscal spheres, and the great financial crisis (G.F.C.). According to the Banco de la Republica (Colombian Central Bank), “The international crisis hit Colombian economy in a moment when the economic dynamism was already decreasing, after years of rapid growth. This slowdown is the result of a restrictive monetary policy, the impact of the rise in the prices of basic goods to both producers and consumers, and the restrictions imposed by some commercial partners (Venezuela and Ecuador).”
From 2002 until 2007, Colombia had entered an expanding cycle …show more content…
By evaluating the fiscal policy to compensate the effects of the crisis, it can be concluded that the government focused on finding anticipated credit resources to finance the lack of liquidity of the treasury department. For the most part, the government took an a-cyclical or neutral position, waiting for the economy to correct itself with the automatic stabilizers. However, the re-establishment of the capital controls between 2007 and 2008 prevented an excessive short-term external debt, which prevented the exposure of the economy to the uncertainty of speculative capitals during the crisis. To support this action, there was an intervention in the exchange market, oriented to moderate the volatility of the exchange rates; this practice permitted the accumulation of considerable amounts that were an important support during the effects of the GFC. For the most part, the government of Alvaro Uribe took an appropriate step back and allowed to Colombian economy to correct itself; by 2010 the economic growth rate reached an impressive 4.3%, in comparison to other economies of the …show more content…
The reduction of remittances received by Colombia pushed a significant number of families below the line of poverty, aggravating it by 5% at the beginning of 2009. The reduction of remittances caused mortgages to be overdue, leading to co-habitation arrangements. Additionally, a decreased in school enrolment was observed, forcing students and infants to enter the labour market to compensate for the lack of extra income. Furthermore, there was an observed health care enrolment drop. The program of Alvaro Uribe focused on reducing the fiscal deficit, leaving little margin to invest on social