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"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.

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

The 25-point cut narrowly won the day among central bank board members with a 4-3 vote. All three dissenters preferred another 50-point reduction.

One analyst firm believes the move "to step up the pace of interest rate cuts is a clear response to the weakness of the recent activity data."

The IMF is predicting 2.3% GDP growth for Colombia in 2017, a decrease from the 2.7% expansion the institution had forecasted in October.

"I don't have the slightest doubt that the worst has already passed," said Cárdenas while predicting better economic growth this year than the 2.0% seen in 2016.

The slow growth in 2016 marks only the second time since 2002 that the Colombian economy has expanded by less than 3.0%.

The decision was based on worries that Colombia's economic slowdown may now be a larger concern than inflation.

"The slowdown in output and lower external imbalance reflect the adjustment required in the Colombian economy," said the central bank.

If the story plays out as expected, Bancolombia believes that 2015 and 2016 will end up being bumps in the road in an ongoing growth trajectory.