Colombia’s Peso Went on a Round Trip Last Week — What It Cost You
Colombia · MONEY
Key Facts
—Today’s rate: The official TRM in force for 10 August is 3,157.43 pesos to the dollar, covering 7 to 10 August.
—The round trip: 3,132.42 on 31 July, 3,230.44 on 4 August, 3,157.43 today — a swing of about three percent and back.
—Net effect: Over the ten days the peso is fractionally weaker against the dollar, not stronger.
—What moved it: The presidential handover on 7 August, with a spending-freeze decree and a promised tax reform on one side and a promised US security package on the other.
—Why the timing bites: The TRM is fixed a day ahead and held through the Boyacá holiday and the weekend, so Monday trading will not show in the official rate until Tuesday.
—On a US$3,000 transfer: Converting on 31 July rather than on 4 August was worth roughly US$90.
The Colombian peso TRM spent last week going nowhere the hard way. Between 31 July and today the official rate swung about three percent and came back, which means the number that matters for anyone paid in dollars was decided less by economics than by which morning they happened to press the button.
What the official rate actually did
Colombia’s Tasa Representativa del Mercado is the rate that matters for contracts, tax filings and most bank conversions. The Banco de la República series tells a clean story: 3,132.42 on 31 July, 3,144.14 for the 1 to 3 August weekend, then 3,230.44 on 4 August, 3,204.51 on 5 August, 3,179.40 on 6 August, and 3,157.43 in force from 7 to 10 August.
Read in order, that is a peso weakening by about three percent into the handover and then recovering most of it. Read from end to end, it is a peso that finished the ten days marginally weaker than it started. Both readings are true, and which one you experienced depends entirely on your timing.
Why the Colombian peso TRM is fixed in advance, and why that matters
The TRM is not a live market rate. It is calculated from the previous day’s interbank trading and published for the following day, and when a holiday falls it is extended across the gap. Monday 10 August is covered by a rate that was set before the Boyacá holiday on 7 August.
In practice that means two things. If the peso moves sharply on Monday, your bank’s official conversion today still reflects Thursday’s market. And if you are timing a large transfer around a long weekend, the four-day window is the one period where the official rate cannot respond to news at all.
What was actually moving it
The swing tracked the presidential transition. Abelardo De La Espriella was sworn in on 7 August, and the week around it delivered a promised abolition of the wealth tax, a decree freezing public spending, a commitment to re-authorise fracking, and from Washington a stated intention, working with Congress, to provide up to US$1 billion in security assistance.
None of that is settled policy. The tax reform is a speech with no bill behind it, and the US package is contingent on Congressional approval. Currency markets priced the uncertainty on the way in and unwound part of it once the handover passed without incident. That is a normal pattern around a change of government, and it is worth remembering the next time a political date appears on the calendar.
What it means for your money
If you earn in dollars and spend in pesos, the practical number is what a month costs you. On a US$3,000 monthly transfer, converting at 3,230 rather than 3,132 was worth roughly COP 294,000, or about US$90. That is a restaurant week in Bogotá for the sake of a calendar coincidence.
If you hold pesos and are planning a dollar purchase, the mirror applies. And if you are on a peso salary with dollar obligations abroad, last week was a reminder that the exposure runs both ways and that the official rate lags the market by a day at minimum.
What to watch
A new TRM is published for Tuesday, and that is the first one that will reflect trading after the handover week. Beyond that, the two things that would move the peso structurally are a tax reform bill actually being filed, which has not happened, and confirmation that the US assistance has cleared Congress, which also has not happened.
Neither is a reason to time a transfer. But if you have a large conversion pending and no deadline, the honest advice is the boring one: split it. Last week is a good argument against putting a month’s living costs through a single morning’s rate.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Colombian TRM today?
The official TRM in force for Monday 10 August is 3,157.43 pesos to the dollar. It covers 7 to 10 August because of the Boyacá holiday and the weekend, and a new rate is published for Tuesday.
Did the Colombian peso strengthen last week?
Not on balance. The TRM was 3,132.42 on 31 July and 3,157.43 today, so the peso is fractionally weaker over the ten days. In between it weakened to 3,230.44 on 4 August and then recovered, a swing of about three percent.
Why does the official rate not change on a Monday holiday?
The TRM is calculated from the previous trading day and published in advance, and it is extended across holidays and weekends. That is why the rate quoted today was fixed before the Boyacá holiday, and why Monday market moves only appear in Tuesday’s figure.
Sources
- Banco de la República — TRM series (datos.gov.co)
- Portafolio — decrees issued on De La Espriella’s first day
- El Tiempo — US announces US$1 billion security package for Colombia
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
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