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Finance Minister Germán Ávila walked out of a central bank board meeting, accusing it of going against Colombia’s national interests and deepening institutional tensions.

In mid-November, the Banco de la República forecasted inflation to end both 2018 and 2019 at 3.3%.

Banco de la República has now held the rate steady since cutting it by 25 basis points to 4.25% at its April meeting.

The central bank board cited the “weakness of the economic activity and uncertainty over its pace of recovery.”

After cutting the benchmark interest rate to 4.5% in January, the central bank board "considered the cycle of rate reductions had been completed," says Echavarría

Banco de la República estimates that GDP grew by just 1.6% in 2017 and maintains “uncertainty over its pace of recovery.”

"For now, the Banco de la República is likely to continue to move in 25-basis-point steps," said Capital Economics.