In Colombia, as well as in the rest of the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has seriously damaged the health and well-being of the people. In order to limit the damage, local and national authorities have had to order large sectors of the population to be confined at their homes for long periods of time. An inevitable consequence of isolation has been the collapse of economic activity, expenditure, and employment, a phenomenon that has hit many countries of the world affected by the disease. It is an unprecedented crisis in modern times, not so much for its intensity (which is undoubtedly immense), but because its origin is not economic. That is what makes it so unpredictable and difficult to manage. Naturally, its economic consequences are enormous. Governments and central banks from all over the world are struggling to mitigate them, but the final solution is not in the hands of the economic authorities. Only science can provide a way out. In the meantime, the economic indicators in Colombia and in the rest of the world cause concern. The output falls, the massive loss of jobs, and the closure of businesses of all sizes have become daily news. Added to this, there is the deterioration in global financial conditions and the increase in the risk indicators. Financial volatility has increased and stock indexes have fallen. In the face of the lower global demand, export prices of raw materials have fallen, affecting the terms of trade for producing countries. Workers’ remittances have declined due to the increase of unemployment in developed countries. This crisis has also generated a strong reduction of global trade of goods and services, and effects on the global value chains. Central banks around the world have reacted decisively and quickly with strong liquidity injections and significant cuts to their interest rates. By mid-July, such determined response had succeeded to revert much of the initial deterioration in global financial conditions. The stock exchanges stopped their fall, and showed significant recovery in several countries. Risk premia, which at the beginning of the crisis took an unusual leap, recorded substantial corrections. Something similar happened with the volatility indexes of global financial markets, which exhibited significant improvement. Flexibilization of confinement measures in some economies, broad global liquidity, and fiscal policy measures have also contributed to improve global external financial conditions, albeit with indicators that still do not return to their pre-Covid levels.

con lo previsto en el artículo 5° de la Ley 31 de 1992, presenta a consideración del Honorable Congreso de la República un informe donde se señalan los resultados macroeconómicos del primer semestre de 2020, las perspectivas para lo que resta del año y las medidas que ha tomado recientemente el Banco de la República en el marco de la emergencia generada por el Covid-19. Adicionalmente, se describe la composición de las reservas internacionales y su rendimiento, la situación financiera de la Entidad y sus proyecciones para 2020. Con un atento saludo, Juan José Echavarría Gerente General 01 Introducción /9 02 Entorno macroeconómico y medidas del Banco de la República durante 2020 /17 2.1 El choque global del Covid-19 y el deterioro de las condiciones externas del país /17 2.2 Medidas implementadas por la JDBR para enfrentar los efectos /20 negativos de la pandemia /20 2.3 Evolución de los mercados financieros y de crédito /25 2.4 Evolución de la actividad económica, el mercado laboral y la balanza de pagos /34 2.5 Evolución de la inflación /41 03 Reservas internacionales /44 3.1 Composición del portafolio de inversión /45 3.2 Rentabilidad de las reservas /45 3.3 Medidas para fortalecer la liquidez internacional /46 3.4 Indicadores de reservas /48 04 Situación financiera del Banco de la República /50

El mismo autor señala que este comportamiento también se presentó en Europa, donde 36 representantes compitieron por un préstamo para la ciudad de Budapest.referencias Aguilera, M. (2003). "Salinas de Manaure: tradición wayuu y modernización",

The Board of Directors of the Central Bank, as per the provisions of Article 5 of Law 31 of 1992, submits a report to the Congress of the Republic that describes the macroeconomic performance for the first half of 2019 and its prospects for the remainder of the year. The last two chapters report on the composition of the country’s international reserves and the projection of the financial situation of Banco de la República for 2019. The last chapter analyzes the payment systems in the cou

In compliance with Act of Congress 31/1992, Article 5, the Board of Directors of Banco de la República hereby submits to the Congress of the Republic of Colombia a detailed report on the measures that Banco de la República has taken in the emergency situation generated by Covid-19 and presents the macroeconomic results for 2020 and the outlook for 2021 for its consideration. Furthermore, the breakdown of the Foreign Reserves and their performance, the financial position of the Bank and its forecasts, and the Bank’s Cultural management are described.