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While the rest of Latin America is going one way, Colombia is still lagging behind. Only Ecuador, with a 6.1% drop in the first quarter, performed worse.

"Latin American economies remain vulnerable to a sharp deceleration in the Chinese economy and its knock-on effects in commodity prices," said Rui J. Pereira of Fitch Ratings.

The perception of security in Colombia is better than the three other largest countries in Latin America: Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.

"We will continue to reduce spending with the objective of hitting fiscal targets and reinforcing our country’s BBB rating,” said Mauricio Cárdenas.

Exports from Colombia to South Korea totaled $182 million USD from last July through May 2017 compared to $137 million USD the prior year.

“Colombia's creditworthiness could be pressured” if low growth persists and high fiscal deficits undermine the government’s push to reduce debt.

"Not everybody in Colombia has access to the modern economy, and that in itself is an important inequality that needs to be addressed," said Deaton.

The 3.99% rate is 38 basis points below the 4.37% annual inflation seen in May and less than half of the 8.60% rate in June 2016.

The central bank said its decision was based upon “growing weakness of economic activity."

"Bogota's ratings reflect its solid operating performance and its manageable debt levels,” said Fitch Ratings.