Economic reforms in Colombia - regulation and deregulation, 1990-94

19692 1995 WORLD ~~BANK INSTITUTE Economic Reforms in Colombia Regulation and Deregulation, 1990-94 Armando Montenegro WBI WORKING PAPERS   Economic Reforms in Colombia Regulation and Deregulation, 1990-94 Armando Montenegro This paper describes the set of economic reforms carried out in Colombia between 1990 and 1994. Given that the main macroeconomic variables were basically in place, the reform's goals were twofold: first, the deregulation of trade, capital, and labor mar- kets; and second, the strengthening and creation of new regulatory institutions, such as public utility regulatory commissions, the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce, and, above all, the Central Bank. The paper takes up the following questions: What was the regulatory situation in the late 1 980s? How was an ambitious reform possible in a conservative country that was not suffering a macroeconomic crisis? What were the main elements of this reform? Finally, is this reform going to last? World Bank Institute  Copyright