Weekly Report - 09 June 2011 (WR-11-23)

COLOMBIA | Investment grade. Moody's this week became the second credit rating agency to return Colombia to the coveted level of investment grade. Moody's followed the lead of Standard and Poor's in March. It cited the country's ability to confront internal and external shocks. The finance minister, Juan Carlos Echeverry, confidently predicted that Fitch Ratings would be the final member of the trio to upgrade Colombia after 20 June when congress approves various fiscal reforms. "Our message is credibility, confidence… we know where we are going, we are the fourth economy in Latin America and we want to become the third," he said. The decision sends another signal to the US Congress to ratify the free trade agreement with Colombia, although this has mainly been held up on human rights and labour rights concerns.

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