Colombia: Inflation drops in May
Consumer prices increased 0.84% in May over the previous month, which was below the 1.25% increase seen in April. May’s result marked the weakest reading since December 2021. Looking at the details of the release, the change in the prices for housing and utilities rose at a faster rate in May. In contrast, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose at a softer rate.
Inflation inched down to 9.1% in May, from April’s 9.2%. Meanwhile, the trend pointed up, with annual average inflation coming in at 6.2% in May (April: 5.7%). Finally, core inflation rose to 8.0% in May, from the previous month’s 7.7%.
Analysts at Scotiabank Colpatria commented on the inflation outlook:
“We expect June’s year-on-year headline inflation to increase again, due to [a] negative statistical base effect on the back of the normalization in food prices after the nationwide strike one year ago. It will be interesting to see if the VAT holiday (17 June) moderates the expected spike.”