As economies around the globe and the exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track them start to show signs of an economic recovery, some are rebounding at seemingly breakneck paces. The million-dollar question is which countries are these and how are they doing it.
Colombia is one such nation. The country was recently promoted to investment grade by Canadian credit agency DBRS, resulting in a stronger currency and nice spark to its stock market. Additionally, the same credit agency the country’s long-term foreign currency rating to BBB-low from BB-high and its long term local currency rating to BBB from BBB-low.
So what makes Colombia different than others? The underlying answer resides in the nation’s policy response to the global economic meltdown – it cut government spending and slashed interest rates, states Javier Mozzo of Reuters. As a result, many economists believe that even if a global recovery is delayed, the Colombian economy ought to remain resilient.
To add icing to the cake, talks about ratifying a free trade deal between Canada and Colombia are on the forefront. This has enabled the Global X/Interbolsa FTSE Colombia 20 ETF (GXG) to return a whopping 50.8% since its inception on February 5 until June 12. Compare this to the S&P 500, which returned 8.8% over the same time period.
In fact, Latin America has a whole has performed very well over the last few weeks. This can be illustrated by the performance of the iShares S&P Latin America 40 Index (ILF), which is up 31.8% over the same time period.
For more stories on Colombia, vistit our Colombia category.
Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.