Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia’s centrist president, is the front-runner in presidential elections due to start in May and, if national polls prove correct, looks set to win a second term in office.

The Banker’s Central Bank Governor of the Year awards celebrate the officials who managed to restore economic stability and even growth to their countries following a turbulent few years.

Colombia's finance minister, Mauricio Cardenas, tells The Banker about the country’s adoption of a new taxation regime aimed at addressing inequality, and why he believes other Latin American countries should be doing the same. 

Colombia might boast one of the strongest economies in Latin America but the country's finance minister, Mauricio Cardenas, is more than aware that its economic growth – largely dominated by its energy and mining sectors, which benefit only a small proportion of the population – needs to be diversified and its rewards better distributed.

Colombia's well regulated but relatively unsaturated banking sector represents a good growth opportunity, but the dominance of its three largest lenders makes it a difficult market to enter.

While Panama's banks held their lead as the biggest banks in Central America, Nicaragua steamed ahead in terms of return on capital and return on assets.