On May 1, the Colombian Government announced the extension of the Flexible Credit Line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) allowing the country access to an additional USD 10.8 billion to deal with the  COVID-19 pandemic.  The idea is to ensure the system’s liquidity and promote financial relief measures.  For its part, the Banco de la República (BanRep, in Spanish) issued a modification to the system used to trade in and register foreign currency operations. The regulations are already in force.

The additional funds from the IMF were approved during the agency’s Executive Board meeting. On that occasion, the “very solid frameworks of Colombian economic policy and the timely actions taken by the authorities” to tackle the COVID-19 were singled out for praise. The new flexible credit line will allow Colombia to use these funds on a discretionary and immediate basis, and to direct them to priority areas in the fight against the pandemic. 

In addition, BanRep continues to promote measures to encourage the correct functioning of the foreign exchange market and has issued amendments to its Operations and Market Analysis Manual which stipulate that the registration of any foreign exchange transaction in the country must be made between 15 and 45 minutes after the transaction itself. The amendment will be in force until July 31, 2020.