In his weekly column Cuentas Claras, Mauricio Galindo, economic editor of EL TIEMPO, offers the curious figures around the news that happened in the last 7 days. On this occasion, the brake that the Colombian economy is having, the business sectors that produce the most dividends in the world and the few home sales experienced by this sector of the economy, among others.
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Fully depressing the brake pedal
The Colombian economy had been one of the fastest growing, with respect to its production, before the pandemic. It came to accumulate a growth of 11.4 percent from the end of 2019 to the first quarter of this year.
However, now it is one of the slowest and in nine months, it went from a growth rate of 12.1 percent to only 3 percent. In the OECD countries as a whole, the slowdown was from 3.3 percent to 1.8 percent.
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The sectors that produce the most dividends
In the first quarter of the year, the economic sector that distributed the most dividends among its shareholders in the world was pharmaceuticals, with 37.3 billion dollars, according to the firm Janus Henderson.
Oil and gas producers follow, with $27.2 billion. Then there are the banks, with 26.5 billion dollars. Total dividends distributed in the first three months of the year were $289.9 billion.
Worst part is for subsidized housing
From January to March of this year, housing loan disbursements were the lowest since the second quarter of 2020, the toughest time of the covid lockdown.
Between the end of last year and the start of this year, the drop was 40 percent. The worst part is the credit for families who lend to buy subsidized social housing, where the fall was 69.2 percent, according to Dane.
A city in which Colombia fits 3 times
Tourists visiting Dubai spend $29.42 billion a year there. This city is the one that receives the most income from tourism in the world. According to an analysis by Visualcapitalist.com based on WTTC data, Doha follows, with 16.79 billion. With the current exchange rate, Colombia receives 9,000 million dollars from tourism, slightly less than a third of Dubai.
Mauricio Galindo
economics editor
On Twitter: @galmau
