Colombia offers financial opportunities to acquisitive global banks but problems such as tax and access continue to hinder growth. Courtney Fingar reports.

Economic growth in Colombia is brisk: purchasing power is up and inflation is at its lowest for 40 years. But what of the security issue? Courtney Fingar reports from Bogata.

Colombia’s capital markets may be on the up but legal barriers are hindering their development. Jason Mitchell reports.

Colombia is one such country that has used the current benign conditions to improve public finances but that does not mean that all the pieces of an economic growth formula are in place. The country has the same pitiful loans to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of 25% that it had in the 1970s.

BBVA Colombia
Luis Juango Fitero, Executive President

Last year proved stellar for Bancolombia, one of Latin America’s oldest banks and the largest in Colombia in terms of equity and assets. The institution reported pre-tax profits of $339m, up 53%, ranking it as one of the world’s best performing banks.
Earnings reported so far in 2005 are also positive. “The bank is growing at a healthy rate thanks to our basic strategy of sticking to a wide range of retail offerings,” says Jorge Londoño, president of Bancolombia.

Spanish banks in Colombia were burnt by the economic downturn, but domestic and foreign players consider the worst to be over.