Bogotá airport's squat and squalid concrete terminal and miles of cordoned-off, dug-up roads are stark indicators as to why Colombia is pushing transport investment so hard. The country's infrastructure has long been insufficient, so the government embarked on a $24bn recession-busting programme in 2008 to tackle this problem just as the recession bit. The programme is providing a litmus test of the depth and sophistication of the local bank loan and debt markets and is starting to stimulate a private equity and fast-growing institutional asset management industry.
"There was a conscious decision to let the budget deficit rise to allow us to increase long-term spending and maintain social programmes" says Esteban Piedrahita, director-general of Colombia's National Planning Department (DNP). The fact that Colombia can afford to step up spending during a global recession is testament to years of strong economic management and gross domestic product (GDP) growth. "This is the first time that we have had the economic conditions to carry out such an anti-cyclical policy," adds Mr Piedrahita.
