Capital City: Bogotá
	It is %T:%M %A in Bogotá

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Economic trends

Colombia is a free-market economy and has shown a steady growth since the president, Alvaro Uribe, came into power in 2002. The re-election of Uribe in May 2006 is going to bring more stability to the economy. The sustained growth of the Colombian economy can be attributed to an improvement in domestic security, the policies of keeping inflation low and maintaining a stable currency (peso), rise in global oil prices, and an increase in exports as a result of trade liberalization. Colombia enjoys a hight GDP growth rate at around 5% each year. In 2006 and 2007, it reached 6.8 and 6.6% respectively. The government is expected to adopt a prudent fiscal policy and undergo structural reforms aimed at strengthening the public finances. This would slow down GDP growth marginally. IMF forecasts a GDP growth of 4.8% in 2008. The current-account deficit will widen to 2.5% of GDP in 2008, but will be fully financed by strong investment inflows. The unemployment rate recorded in 2005 was nearly 10% but it was around 20% in 2002.

Main branches of industry

Agriculture has traditionally been the chief economic activity in Colombia. Colombia's diverse climate and topography permit the cultivation of a wide variety of crops, but coffee is by far the major crop which contributes 7% to the country’s GDP. Colombia is also the 2nd largest exporter of cut flowers in the world. The illicit drug trade (Colombia is the largest producer of cocaine in the world) accounts for about 25% of foreign exchange earnings. The manufacturing sector is mainly focused on food-processing. Oil and mining sector continues to attract the maximum investments. The banking sector is still fragile.

International trade

Since Colombia mainly exports coffee and petroleum, as a result the country is dependent on international prices. Petroleum has replaced coffee as the nation's leading legal export commodity. Colombia being a member of the Andean Group (an economic organization of South American nations) has signed free-trade pacts with other Andean countries and Mexico. Colombia's top three export partners are: the United States, Venezuela and Ecuador. The top three import partners are: the USA, Mexico and China. Colombia mainly imports machines, electrical and electronic equipment, vehicles, and organic chemicals.