Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos unveiled a package of measures on Thursday aimed at stoking the Andean nation's economy as weaker oil prices and slower investment forced the government to revise down its growth outlook. The so-called PIPE 2.0 program to boost productivity and employment comes after a similar stimulus effort in April 2013 helped the economy accelerate 4.6 percent in 2014 before a plunge in the price of global crude, Colombia's top export, led Santos to trim his growth forecast to 3.5 percent this year from 4.2 percent previously.
"Growth projections have been falling," Santos said during the presentation in Bogota. "It's exactly with that perspective, and still waving the banner of high growth in the region, we've decided it's opportune to make an effort to boost the economy." He did not say how much the plan would lift economic expansion but said average growth through 2018 would be 4.3 percent.
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