Colombia’s Finance Minister Says Central Bank Governor Talks Too Much

(Bloomberg) -- Colombia’s Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla said the nation’s central bank governor is overstepping the limits of his role by talking publicly about topics other than monetary policy.

“It seems to me that it violates a custom of central banks, and the best practices of central banks is to limit themselves to talking about monetary policy in public, and to discuss absolutely all facets of the economy and society, internally,” Carrasquilla said at a banking conference in Cartagena.

The nation’s top two finance officials clashed after central bank Governor Juan Jose Echavarria said he thought the high level of “political polarization” in Colombia may be hurting growth.

“I’m absolutely convinced that there’s no polarization, at least not a polarization that has an effect on the decisions of business leaders, households and consumers,” Carrasquilla said. “I asked the governor what is the concrete information he has to back this hypothesis, and he still hasn’t given me any, so I think this is nonsense.”

Echavarria declined to comment in reply to written questions. In Colombia, the Finance Minister is one of the central bank’s 7-member policy committee.

To contact the reporters on this story: Matthew Bristow in Bogota at mbristow5@bloomberg.net;Oscar Medina in Bogota at omedinacruz@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Matthew Bristow at mbristow5@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson

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