NEW YORK, NY — (Marketwired) — 09/16/14 —
The Infrastructure Finance awards recognize the standout deals funding infrastructure in Latin America & the Caribbean. The winners of –s 2014 demonstrate how capital markets can best be used for financing these projects. Some have pioneered new financing structures; others have overcome extensive complications to reach a close, or made creative use of development bank support.
The awards have been selected by –s editors after close examination of information provided by market participants, interviews with people in the industry, and research of publicly available information on the projects.
The past year has forced all Latin American central bank governors to think harder than ever about how to balance the need to support growth with their duty to keep inflation in check. In this difficult environment, , governor of Colombia–s central bank, Banco de la República (BanRep), has walked the tightrope most convincingly.
José Darío Uribe is recognized for his decision to hike rates early, anticipating a strong rebound in economic growth in the Andean nation, and his well-timed intervention in the foreign exchange markets to push down the value of the peso against the dollar.
Colombia raised rates by a full percentage point, to 4.25%, between April and July, in a move which — despite having taken the market by surprise — has since been widely praised by analysts. The strength of economic activity and the rise in inflationary expectations in recent months in Colombia have “vindicated” the central bank–s decision to start the interest rate hiking process early, experts say.
“Thanks in part to BanRep–s foresight, Colombia–s strong policy framework has put the economy in a strong position to temper inflationary pressures and withstand external headwinds,” said Editor-in-Chief Taimur Ahmad.
The economy grew at an annual rate of 6.4% in the first quarter, ahead of 5.3% in the previous quarter.
“We clearly expressed that we began the hiking cycle with enough anticipation to ensure a gradual adjustment process. Undue delays in this regard could imply excessive volatility of interest rates and output, as aggregate demand pressures may build up and inflation expectations could become unanchored” Uribe said in an . “We cannot control the external environment, but we can control our framework,” he said.
Full details on the , including additional comments from José Darío Uribe, available .
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