BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s economy contracted 20.06% in April versus the same month a year ago as the country weathered the effects of a national coronavirus lockdown, the government’s statistics agency said on Thursday.
President Ivan Duque declared an ongoing national quarantine to curb the spread of the disease in late March. Though some restrictions have recently been lifted, the lockdown is set to last until July 1.
The Andean country’s economy grew 1.1% in the first quarter of the year, after robust expansion in January and February was offset by the start of pandemic measures in March.
Thousands of businesses have shuttered, unemployment has spiked and the government – which has abandoned its fiscal deficit limits for 2020 and 2021 – expects the economy to contract by 5.5% this year.
(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra and Oliver Griffin; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
