Earlier this week, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos warned
to reporters that Colombia might perform worse economically in 2016 than it did
in 2015, due to the continued global slump in oil prices. Reuters noted that
the Colombian government has been forced to slash its GDP growth productions
for both 2015 and 2016 because of the low oil prices.
Santos told reporters that, “Hard times are waiting. Next year
will also be a very difficult year in a fiscal sense. We could touch bottom
next year.” Nonetheless, he stressed, “But we will get out of the storm
stronger.”
La
República interviewed Global Reporting Initiative CEO Michael Meehan about
the biggest challenges facing the Colombian economy. He explained that although
there are more companies interested in investing in Colombia now, thanks to the
advances in the peace negotiations, it is still a process. Meehan believes that
the biggest challenge for the Colombian economy is the uncertainty regarding
the post conflict.
In mining-related news, El
Espectador spoke with Charles Burgess, the CEO of Texas Colombia mining
company, a large player in the Colombian emerald industry. He explained that
his foreign investors were worried by the level of informality of the emerald
industry and the lack of reliable information on it. Nonetheless, he stressed
that there will never again be a “Emerald Czar” in Colombia.
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