El marco institucional de la política monetaria y macroprudencial en Colombia en los últimos 30 años: las lecciones del pasado y los desafíos para el futuro

En los últimos 30 años la política monetaria y macroprudencial de Colombia transitó hacia la búsqueda de un objetivo de inflación bajo y creíble, así como de un sistema financiero estable. La prolongada inflación que comenzó a comienzo de los años setenta fue superada a comienzo del nuevo siglo con la ayuda del nuevo régimen para la formulación de la política monetaria, de meta de inflación. En el ámbito de la política macroprudencial, la crisis financiera de finales de los años noventa llevó a importantes avances institucionales para la coordinación de la política macroprudencial y para la evaluación del riesgo sistémico. A lo largo de estos desarrollos importantes lecciones han sido aprendidas. Una de ellas es que, para preservar la estabilidad macroeconómica, el objetivo de estabilidad de precios debe ser complementado con el de estabilidad financiera, así como con la política macroprudencial. Otra lección es que el nuevo marco institucional para la formulación de la política monetaria ayudó al Banco de la República a superar 25 años de inflación, entonces llamada inflación moderada. Entre los retos están continuar preservando la estabilidad de precios y la estabilidad financiera, reforzar el papel del Banco de la República en la política macroprudencial y continuar fortaleciendo los canales de coordinación y cooperación internacional en la política macroprudencial.Over the past 30 years, monetary and macroprudential policy in Colombia evolved towards the pursuit of a low and credible inflation target and a stable financial system. The protracted inflation that began in the early seventies was defeated at the turn of the century with the help of the new framework for monetary policy formulation, inflation targeting. In the field of macroprudential policy, the financial crisis of the late nineties led to important institutional developments in the formulation and coordination of macroprudential policy, as well as in the assessment of systemic risk. Along with these developments, important lessons have been learnt. One is that, to preserve macroeconomic stability, the price stability objective must be complemented with the financial stability objective, as well as with macroprudential policy. Another lesson is that the new institutional framework for monetary policy formulation helped Banco de la República overcome 25 years of inflation, then called moderate inflation. The challenges for the future include to continue preserving price and financial stability, strengthening the role of the Banco de la República in macroprudential policy, and to continue strengthening the channels of international coordination and cooperation in macroprudential policy.Enfoque En los últimos 30 años la política monetaria y macroprudencial de Colombia transitó hacia la búsqueda de un objetivo de inflación bajo y creíble, así como de un sistema financiero estable. En el campo de la inflación, su aumento a comienzos de los años setenta se convirtió en un fenómeno persistente que generó tasas de crecimiento de los precios de más de 20 por ciento anual durante casi tres décadas, aunque en comparación con otras economías de América Latina se destaca que Colombia no llegó a experimentar fenómenos de hiperinflación. Al comienzo del nuevo siglo, en el marco del nuevo régimen de política monetaria de metas de inflación, esta métrica se redujo gradualmente hacia la meta de largo plazo. En lo que se refiere a estabilidad financiera, el inicio de las reformas de principios de los años noventa coincidió con una acumulación de riesgos que facilitaron el estallido de la crisis de fin de siglo. En lo corrido del siglo XXI se han presentado importantes avances institucionales, entre ellos la creación en 2003 del Comité de Coordinación y Seguimiento del Sistema Financiero (CCSSF) como mecanismo de discusión y coordinación de las políticas macroprudenciales. Además, la creación del Departamento de Estabilidad Financiera en el Banco de la República y la producción de sus evaluaciones semestrales de la estabilidad del sistema financiero han sido contribuciones importantes para el seguimiento y diagnóstico del sector en este contexto. Contribución El artículo hace un recuento de los elementos que llevaron al marco institucional inherente en la formulación de la política monetaria y macroprudencial en Colombia en los últimos 30 años. Además, el análisis permite identificar las principales lecciones aprendidas, así como algunos de los retos para el futuro. Resultados La experiencia de los últimos treinta años en la implementación del marco de política monetaria y macroprudencial deja lecciones importantes. Una de ellas es que la estabilidad macroeconómica no se garantiza únicamente por medio del objetivo de la estabilidad de precios. Para preservar la estabilidad macroeconómica el objetivo de estabilidad de precios requiere ser complementado con el de estabilidad financiera y con la política macroprudencial. En lo monetario, el nuevo marco institucional ayudó al Banco de la República a centrarse en el objetivo de inflación y facilitó la implementación de políticas contra-cíclicas que contribuyen a la estabilidad del crecimiento. Pese al significativo repunte de la inflación en el período más reciente, el esquema de política ha permitido que las expectativas de inflación de mediano plazo se mantengan en rangos acordes con la meta. Otras lecciones se refieren a la interacción entre las políticas monetaria y macroprudencial. Las medidas macroprudenciales y la política monetaria son complementarias, ya que su efecto sobre el crecimiento del crédito es mayor cuando ambas políticas se utilizan simultáneamente. Además, como ambas políticas actúan a través del sistema financiero, tanto el desarrollo del sistema financiero como las políticas macroprudenciales vigentes pueden influir en la transmisión de la política monetaria. El reto hacia el futuro es continuar preservando la estabilidad de precios y la estabilidad financiera. La lucha contra la inflación es la tarea inmediata y el Banco de la República está bien equipado para alcanzar este objetivo con el actual marco de política. En cuanto a la estabilidad financiera, una tarea importante es seguir reforzando el papel del Banco de la República en el análisis de los riesgos sistémicos del sector y de la política macroprudencial. Adicionalmente se deben continuar fortaleciendo los canales de coordinación y cooperación internacional dado que Colombia es a la vez sede de bancos extranjeros y matriz de bancos en el exterior.

Feasibility analysis for the commercialization in Latin America of funeral chests in MDF wood chipboard

El presente estudio es producto de una investigación realizada con el fin de crear dentro de la empresa Diseños Exequiales la alternativa de exportar hacia los países de Latinoamérica cofres fúnebres con la utilización de aglomerado de madera MDF que sirva como una posibilidad de compra de los clientes potenciales a precios competitivos y con una excelente calidad. Se inicia con Ecuador, Panamá, Chile y como segunda opción alternativamente se continuará con Venezuela aprovechando las ventajas del tratado de la Comunidad Andina de Naciones. Fue necesario establecer una serie de parámetros para definir las preferencias de los potenciales compradores y de los países donde están estos, tales como ubicación, gustos, precios, tecnología de punta, cultura, ingresos per cápita y aceptación de nuestro producto. Lo fundamental de ello es utilizar mano de obra especializada y confiable y son precisamente los trabajadores de la empresa seleccionada como comercializadora, que al ser considerados socios de la misma, se han capacitado y entrenado para realizar la producción efectivamente.Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey ITESMINTRODUCCION 1 1. GENERALIDADES 6 1.1 ESTADO DEL ARTE DEL AGLOMERADO DE LA MADERA Y DEL PRODUCTO LINEA PRESIDENCIAL 6 1.2 RELACION DE LA INDUSTRIA PRODUCTORA DE COFRES FÚNEBRES EN COLOMBIA Y RITUAL DE LA MUERTE 10 1.2.1 La muerte como objeto de estudio 11 1.2.1.1 La muerte 13 1.2.1.2 Conclusiones del entierro humano 14 1.2.1.3 Muerte, cultura y religión 16 1.2.1.4 La muerte como rito de paso 21 1.2.1.5 La casa de los muertos 24 1.2.1.6 Prácticas de entierro 26 1.3 ASPECTOS GENERALES DE LA EMPRESA DISEÑOS EXEQUIALES COMO PRODUCTORA DE COFRES FUNEBRES PARA LA COMERCIALIZACION INTERNACIONAL 32 1.3.1 Visión 2.005 33 1.3.2 Misión 33 1.3.3 Políticas 34 1.3.4 Dirección y Administración 35 1.3.5 Patrimonio y Financiación 36 1.3.6 Objetivos 36 1.3.6.1 Objetivo General 36 1.3.6.2 Objetivos Específicos 37 1.4 AUDITORIA INTERNA Y EXTERNA PARA DISEÑOS EXEQUIALES 37 1.4.1 Análisis DOFA 37 1.4.2 Direccionamiento estratégico para Diseños Exequiales 40 1.4.2.1 Objetivo 40 1.4.2.2 Estrategias 40 1.4.3 Evaluación Estratégica para Diseños Exequiales 42 1.5 PRINCIPALES COMPONENTES DE LA ESTRUCTURA TECNICA DE LA EMPRESA HACIA UN PRODUCTO DE CALIDAD EXPORTABLE 42 1.5.1 Sistemas, Procesos y Procedimientos 43 1.5.1.1 Sistema 43 1.5.1.2 Procesos y Procedimientos 45 1.5.2 Equipos y herramientas necesarias para la producción de cofres fúnebres 57 1.5.3 Localización de la Empresa Diseños Exequiales 59 1.5.3.1 Macrolocalización 59 1.5.3.2 Microlocalización 60 2. ESTUDIO DE MERCADOS 62 2.1 MERCADO META 62 2.2 DISEÑO DE LA INVESTIGACION 62 2.2.1 Tipo de Estudio 63 2.2.2 Método Inductivo 63 2.2.3 Fuentes de Datos 64 2.2.3.1 Fuentes de Datos Primarios 64 2.2.3.2 Fuentes de Datos Secundarios 65 2.2.3.3 Procedimiento para la Recolección de Datos 65 2.2.4 Análisis y presentación de resultados 73 3. PERFIL DEL MERCADO 100 3.1 CHILE 103 3.1.1 Aspectos Generales 103 3.1.2 Comercio exterior de Chile 106 3.1.2.1 Balanza Comercial 106 3.1.2.2 Principales Productos Importados Año 2000 107 3.1.2.3 Principales Productos De Exportación Año 2000 108 3.1.2.4 Principales países proveedores de las importaciones Año 2001 110 3.1.2.5 Principales países destino de las exportaciones año 2001 111 3.1.2.6 Intercambio Bilateral con Colombia 112 3.1.2.7 Balanza Comercial Bilateral 112 3.1.2.8 25 principales productos exportados desde Colombia (no tradicionales) año 2001 113 3.1.2.9 Importaciones según el Sistema Armonizado 114 3.1.2.10 Importaciones totales por producto 116 3.1.2 Condiciones de acceso al mercado 118 3.1.2.1 Acuerdos Comerciales 118 3.1.2.2 Aranceles y otros impuestos a las importaciones 131 3.1.2.3 Regulación y Normas 133 3.1.2.4 Perfil De Transporte Desde Colombia - Condiciones Generales De Acceso Desde Colombia 138 3.2 ECUADOR 145 3.2.1 Aspectos generales de Ecuador 145 3.2.2 Comercio Exterior 148 3.2.2.1 Balanza Comercial 148 3.2.2.2 Principales productos importados año 2000 148 3.2.2.3 Principales productos de exportación año 2000 149 3.2.2.4 Principales socios comerciales 151 3.2.2.5 Principales países destino de las exportaciones – 2000 152 3.2.2.6 Intercambio bilateral con Colombia 153 3.2.2.7 Balanza Comercial Bilateral 153 3.2.2.8 25Principales Productos Exportados Desde Colombia (No Tradicionales) Año 2001 154 3.2.2.9 Importaciones Totales Por Secciones -Años 1998-1999-2000 155 3.2.2.10 Importaciones totales por producto 157 3.2.3 Condiciones de acceso al mercado 159 3.2.3.1 Acuerdos comerciales 159 3.2.3.2 Aranceles y otros impuestos a las importaciones 166 3.2.4 Exención de Impuestos y Gravámenes Arancelarios 166 3.2.3.3 Regulación y normas 167 3.2.3.4 Perfil De Transporte Desde Colombia - Condiciones Generales De Acceso Desde Colombia 170 3.3 PANAMÁ 176 3.3.1 Aspectos generales de Panamá 176 3.3.2 Comercio exterior 178 3.3.2.1 Balanza Comercial 178 3.3.2.2 Principales Productos Importados Año 2000 180 3.3.2.3 Principales productos exportados año 2000 181 3.3.2.4 Principales socios comerciales 183 3.3.2.5 Principales países destino de las exportaciones año 2000 184 3.3.2.6 Intercambio Bilateral Con Colombia 185 3.3.2.7 25 Principales Productos Exportados Desde Colombia (No Tradicionales) Año 2001 186 3.3.2.8 Importaciones Totales - Participación por Secciones - Año 2000 187 3.3.2.9 Importaciones totales por producto 189 3.3.3 Condiciones de acceso al mercado 190 3.3.3.1 Acuerdos comerciales 190 3.3.3.2 Aranceles y otros impuestos a las importaciones 199 3.3.3.3 Regulación y normas 201 3.3.4 Perfil De Transporte Desde Colombia - Condiciones Generales De Acceso Desde Colombia 204 3.3.4.1 Transporte Marítimo 204 3.3.4.2 Transporte aéreo 207 4. ESTUDIO DE LA ORGANIZACIÓN 212 4.1 ESTRUCTURA ORGANICA 212 4.1.1 Tipo Empresa 212 4.1.2 Organigrama 216 4.1.3 Areas Funcionales 218 4.1.3.1 Area Administrativa 218 4.1.3.2 Area Operativa 220 4.1.3.3 Area de Mercadeo 221 4.1.3.4 Interrelación Entre Las Areas 223 4.1.4 Responsabilidades 224 4.1.4.1 Area Administrativa y Financiera 224 4.1.4.2 Área Operativa – Producción 224 4.1.4.3 Area Mercadeo – Exportaciones – Ventas 225 4.2 ADMINISTRACION DE PERSONAL 225 4.3 ORGANIZACIÓN JURIDICO-ADMINISTRATIVA 234 4.3.1 Escritura Pública 235 4.3.2 Registro Mercantil 237 4.3.3 Inscripción En La Alcaldía Municipal y el Mincomex 237 4.4 SISTEMA DE COMPENSACION Y REMUNERACION 237 4.5 SISTEMAS DE ADMINISTRACION Y CONTROL 238 4.5.1 Indicadores de Gestión 238 4.5.1.1 Factor Eficiencia 239 4.5.1.2 Factor Calidad 242 4.5.1.3 Factor Cobertura 246 4.5.1.4 Factor Eficacia 248 4.5.1.5 Factor Servicio 249 5. ESTUDIO FINANCIERO 254 5.1 INGRESOS 256 5.2 EGRESOS 257 5.2.1 Inversión 258 5.2.2 Costos Variables 258 5.2.3 Costos Fijos 260 5.2.4 Costos de Exportación 261 5.2.5 Impuestos 261 5.3 FLUJO DE EFECTIVO 262 5.3.1 Valor Presente Neto (VPN) 265 5.3.2 Tasa Interna de Retorno(TIR) 265 5.3.3 Relación Beneficio Costo (B/C) 266 5.4 ESTADO DE RESULTADOS DEL PROYECTO 267 5.5 PUNTO DE EQUILIBRIO (PE) 268 5.6 IMPACTO SOCIAL 269 5.7 IMPACTO AMBIENTAL 270 CONCLUSIONES 272 RECOMENDACIONES 276 GLOSARIO 278 BIBLIOGRAFIA 284 ANEXO A. MARCO LEGAL 286 ANEXO B. ENCUESTA GERENTES 298 ANEXO C. CUESTIONARIO DE OBSERVACIÓN 302 ANEXO D. PORTAFOLIO DE LOS PRODUCTOS A EXPORTAR 305MaestríaThis study is the product of an investigation carried out in order to create within the company Diseños Exequiales the alternative of exporting funeral chests to Latin American countries with the use of MDF wood chipboard that serves as a purchase possibility for potential customers at competitive prices and with excellent quality. It begins with Ecuador, Panama, Chile and as a second option, it will alternatively continue with Venezuela, taking advantage of the treaty of the Andean Community of Nations. It was necessary to establish a series of parameters to define the preferences of potential buyers and the countries where they are, such as location, tastes, prices, state-of-the-art technology, culture, per capita income and acceptance of our product. The fundamental of this is to use specialized and reliable labor and it is precisely the workers of the company selected as a marketer, who, being considered partners of it, have been trained and trained to carry out the production effectively.Modalidad Presencia

eIMRT: a web platform for the verification and optimization of radiation treatment plans

The eIMRT platform is a remote distributed computing tool that provides users with Internet access to three different services: Monte Carlo optimization of treatment plans, CRT & IMRT treatment optimization, and a database of relevant radiation treatments/clinical cases. These services are accessible through a user-friendly and platform independent web page. Its flexible and scalable design focuses on providing the final users with services rather than a collection of software pieces. All input and output data (CT, contours, treatment plans and dose distributions) are handled using the DICOM format. The design, implementation, and support of the verification and optimization algorithms are hidden to the user. This allows a unified, robust handling of the software and hardware that enables these computation-intensive services. The eIMRT platform is currently hosted by the Galician Supercomputing Center (CESGA) and may be accessible upon request (there is a demo version at http://eimrt.cesga.es:8080/ eIMRT2/demo; request access in http://eimrt.cesga.es/signup.html). This paper describes all aspects of the eIMRT algorithms in depth, its user interface, and its services. Due to the flexible design of the platform, it has numerous applications including the intercenter comparison of treatment planning, the quality assurance of radiation treatments, the design and implementation of new approaches to certain types of treatments, and the sharing of information on radiation treatment techniques. In addition, the web platform and software tools developed for treatment verification and optimization have a modular design that allows the user to extend them with new algorithms. This software is not a commercial product. It is the result of the collaborative effort of different public research institutions and is planned to be distributed as an open source project. In this way, it will be available to any user; new releases will be generated with the new implemented codes or upgradesThis work was financed by Xunta de Galicia of Spain through grant PGIDT05SIN00101CT and by the European Community through the BeInGrid projectS

A genome-wide association study follow-up suggests a possible role for PPARG in systemic sclerosis susceptibility

Introduction: A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) comprising a French cohort of systemic sclerosis (SSc) reported several non-HLA single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showing a nominal association in the discovery phase. We aimed to identify previously overlooked susceptibility variants by using a follow-up strategy.<p></p> Methods: Sixty-six non-HLA SNPs showing a P value <10-4 in the discovery phase of the French SSc GWAS were analyzed in the first step of this study, performing a meta-analysis that combined data from the two published SSc GWASs. A total of 2,921 SSc patients and 6,963 healthy controls were included in this first phase. Two SNPs, PPARG rs310746 and CHRNA9 rs6832151, were selected for genotyping in the replication cohort (1,068 SSc patients and 6,762 healthy controls) based on the results of the first step. Genotyping was performed by using TaqMan SNP genotyping assays. Results: We observed nominal associations for both PPARG rs310746 (PMH = 1.90 × 10-6, OR, 1.28) and CHRNA9 rs6832151 (PMH = 4.30 × 10-6, OR, 1.17) genetic variants with SSc in the first step of our study. In the replication phase, we observed a trend of association for PPARG rs310746 (P value = 0.066; OR, 1.17). The combined overall Mantel-Haenszel meta-analysis of all the cohorts included in the present study revealed that PPARG rs310746 remained associated with SSc with a nominal non-genome-wide significant P value (PMH = 5.00 × 10-7; OR, 1.25). No evidence of association was observed for CHRNA9 rs6832151 either in the replication phase or in the overall pooled analysis.<p></p> Conclusion: Our results suggest a role of PPARG gene in the development of SSc

CAST constraints on the axion-electron coupling

In non-hadronic axion models, which have a tree-level axion-electron interaction, the Sun produces a strong axion flux by bremsstrahlung, Compton scattering, and axiorecombination, the "BCA processes." Based on a new calculation of this flux, including for the first time axio-recombination, we derive limits on the axion-electron Yukawa coupling gae and axion-photon interaction strength ga using the CAST phase-I data (vacuum phase). For ma <~ 10 meV/c2 we find ga gae < 8.1 × 10−23 GeV−1 at 95% CL. We stress that a next-generation axion helioscope such as the proposed IAXO could push this sensitivity into a range beyond stellar energy-loss limits and test the hypothesis that white-dwarf cooling is dominated by axion emission

Financial Stability Report - September 2015

From this edition, the Financial Stability Report will have fewer pages with some changes in its structure. The purpose of this change is to present the most relevant facts of the financial system and their implications on the financial stability. This allows displaying the analysis more concisely and clearly, as it will focus on describing the evolution of the variables that have the greatest impact on the performance of the financial system, for estimating then the effect of a possible materialization of these risks on the financial health of the institutions. The changing dynamics of the risks faced by the financial system implies that the content of the Report adopts this new structure; therefore, some analyses and series that were regularly included will not necessarily be in each issue. However, the statistical annex that accompanies the publication of the Report will continue to present the series that were traditionally included, regardless of whether or not they are part of the content of the Report. In this way we expect to contribute in a more comprehensive way to the study and analysis of the stability of the Colombian financial system. Executive Summary During the first half of 2015, the main advanced economies showed a slow recovery on their growth, while emerging economies continued with their slowdown trend. Domestic demand in the United States allowed for stabilization on its average growth for the first half of the year, while other developed economies such as the United Kingdom, the euro zone, and Japan showed a more gradual recovery. On the other hand, the Chinese economy exhibited the lowest growth rate in five years, which has resulted in lower global dynamism. This has led to a fall in prices of the main export goods of some Latin American economies, especially oil, whose price has also responded to a larger global supply. The decrease in the terms of trade of the Latin American economies has had an impact on national income, domestic demand, and growth. This scenario has been reflected in increases in sovereign risk spreads, devaluations of stock indices, and depreciation of the exchange rates of most countries in the region. For Colombia, the fall in oil prices has also led to a decline in the terms of trade, resulting in pressure on the dynamics of national income. Additionally, the lower demand for exports helped to widen the current account deficit. This affected the prospects and economic growth of the country during the first half of 2015. This economic context could have an impact on the payment capacity of debtors and on the valuation of investments, affecting the soundness of the financial system. However, the results of the analysis featured in this edition of the Report show that, facing an adverse scenario, the vulnerability of the financial system in terms of solvency and liquidity is low. The analysis of the current situation of credit institutions (CI) shows that growth of the gross loan portfolio remained relatively stable, as well as the loan portfolio quality indicators, except for microcredit, which showed a decrease in these indicators. Regarding liabilities, traditional sources of funding have lost market share versus non-traditional ones (bonds, money market operations and in the interbank market), but still represent more than 70%. Moreover, the solvency indicator remained relatively stable. As for non-banking financial institutions (NBFI), the slowdown observed during the first six months of 2015 in the real annual growth of the assets total, both in the proprietary and third party position, stands out. The analysis of the main debtors of the financial system shows that indebtedness of the private corporate sector has increased in the last year, mostly driven by an increase in the debt balance with domestic and foreign financial institutions. However, the increase in this latter source of funding has been influenced by the depreciation of the Colombian peso vis-à-vis the US dollar since mid-2014. The financial indicators reflected a favorable behavior with respect to the historical average, except for the profitability indicators; although they were below the average, they have shown improvement in the last year. By economic sector, it is noted that the firms focused on farming, mining and transportation activities recorded the highest levels of risk perception by credit institutions, and the largest increases in default levels with respect to those observed in December 2014. Meanwhile, households have shown an increase in the financial burden, mainly due to growth in the consumer loan portfolio, in which the modalities of credit card, payroll deductible loan, revolving and vehicle loan are those that have reported greater increases in risk indicators. On the side of investments that could be affected by the devaluation in the portfolio of credit institutions and non-banking financial institutions (NBFI), the largest share of public debt securities, variable-yield securities and domestic private debt securities is highlighted. The value of these portfolios fell between February and August 2015, driven by the devaluation in the market of these investments throughout the year. Furthermore, the analysis of the liquidity risk indicator (LRI) shows that all intermediaries showed adequate levels and exhibit a stable behavior. Likewise, the fragility analysis of the financial system associated with the increase in the use of non-traditional funding sources does not evidence a greater exposure to liquidity risk. Stress tests assess the impact of the possible joint materialization of credit and market risks, and reveal that neither the aggregate solvency indicator, nor the liquidity risk indicator (LRI) of the system would be below the established legal limits. The entities that result more individually affected have a low share in the total assets of the credit institutions; therefore, a risk to the financial system as a whole is not observed. José Darío Uribe Governo

Financial Stability Report - Second Semester of 2021

Banco de la República’s main objective is to preserve the purchasing power of the currency in coordination with the general economic policy that is intended to stabilize output and employment at long-term sustainable levels. Properly meeting the goal assigned to the Bank by the 1991 Constitution critically depends on preserving financial stability. This is understood to be a general condition in which the financial system assesses and manages the financial risks in a way that facilitates the economy’s performance and efficient allocation of resources while, at the same time, it is able to, on its own, absorb, dissipate, and mitigate the shocks that may arise as a result of adverse events. This Financial Stability Report meets the goal of giving Banco de la República’s diagnosis of the financial system’s and its debtors’ recent performance as well as of the main risks and vulnerabilities that could affect the stability of the Colombian economy. In this way, participants in financial markets and the public are being informed, and public debate on trends and risks affecting the system is being encouraged. The results presented here also serve the monetary authority as a basis for making decisions that will enhance financial stability in the general context of its objectives. In recent months, several positive aspects of the financial system have preserved a remarkable degree of continuity and stability: the liquidity and capital adequacy of financial institutions have remained well above the regulatory minimums at both the individual and consolidated levels, the coverage of past-due loans by loan-loss provisions remains high, and the financial markets for public and private debt and stocks have continued to function normally. At the same time, a surge in all the types of loan portfolios, a sharp downturn in the non-performing loan portfolio, and a rise in the profitability of credit institutions can be seen for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. In line with the general recovery of the economy, the main vulnerability to the stability of the Colombian financial system identified in the previous edition—uncertainty about changes in the non-performing loans portfolio—has receded and remains on a downward trend. In this edition, the main source of vulnerability identified for financial stability in the short term is the system’s exposure to sudden changes in international financial conditions; the results presented in this Report indicate that the system is sufficiently resilient to such scenarios. In compliance with its constitutional objectives and in coordination with the financial system’s security network, Banco de la República will continue to closely monitor the outlook for financial stability at this juncture and will make the decisions necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the economy, facilitate the flow of sufficient credit and liquidity resources, and further the smooth functioning of the payment system. Leonardo Villar Gomez Governor Box 1 -Decomposition of the Net Interest Margin in Colombia and Chile Wilmar Cabrera Daniela Rodríguez-Novoa Box 2 - Spatial Analysis of New Home Prices in Bogota, Medellín, and Cali Using a Geostatistical Approach María Fernanda Meneses Camilo Eduardo Sánchez Box 3 - Interest Rate Model for the SYSMO Stress Test Exercise Wilmar Cabrera Diego Cuesta Santiago Gamba Camilo Gómez Box 4 - The Transition from LIBOR and other International Benchmark Rates Daniela X. Gualtero Briceño Javier E. Pirateque Niñ

The sound of a Martian dust devil

Dust devils (convective vortices loaded with dust) are common at the surface of Mars, particularly at Jezero crater, the landing site of the Perseverance rover. They are indicators of atmospheric turbulence and are an important lifting mechanism for the Martian dust cycle. Improving our understanding of dust lifting and atmospheric transport is key for accurate simulation of the dust cycle and for the prediction of dust storms, in addition to being important for future space exploration as grain impacts are implicated in the degradation of hardware on the surface of Mars. Here we describe the sound of a Martian dust devil as recorded by the SuperCam instrument on the Perseverance rover. The dust devil encounter was also simultaneously imaged by the Perseverance rover's Navigation Camera and observed by several sensors in the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer instrument. Combining these unique multi-sensorial data with modelling, we show that the dust devil was around 25m large, at least 118m tall, and passed directly over the rover travelling at approximately 5ms-1. Acoustic signals of grain impacts recorded during the vortex encounter provide quantitative information about the number density of particles in the vortex. The sound of a Martian dust devil was inaccessible until SuperCam microphone recordings. This chance dust devil encounter demonstrates the potential of acoustic data for resolving the rapid wind structure of the Martian atmosphere and for directly quantifying wind-blown grain fluxes on Mars.We are most grateful for the support of the Mars 2020 project team, including hardware and operation teams. This project was supported in the US by the NASA Mars Exploration Program, and in France by CNES. It is based on observations with SuperCam embarked on Perseverance (Mars2020). The research carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, is under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). The JPL co-author (M.T.) acknowledges funding from NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and the Science Mission Directorate. A. V-R is supported by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) Project No. MDM-2017-0737 Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu”- Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC), and by the Comunidad de Madrid Project S2018/NMT-4291 (TEC2SPACE-CM). R.H. and A.S-L. were supported by Grant PID2019-109467GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and by Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT1742-22. A.M. was supported by Grant PRE2020-092562 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ESF Investing in your future”. R.L. acknowledges InSight PSP Grant 80NSSC18K1626 as well as the Mars 2020 project. B.C. is supported by the Director’s Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, grant 20210960PRD3. JA.RM., M.M, J.T and J.G-E were supported by MCIN/AEI’s Grant RTI2018-098728-B-C31

Financial Stability Report - Second Semester of 2020

The Colombian financial system has not suffered major structural disruptions during these months of deep economic contraction and has continued to carry out its basic functions as usual, thus facilitating the economy's response to extreme conditions. This is the result of the soundness of financial institutions at the beginning of the crisis, which was reflected in high liquidity and capital adequacy indicators as well as in the timely response of various authorities. Banco de la República lowered its policy interest rates 250 points to 1.75%, the lowest level since the creation of the new independent bank in 1991, and provided ample temporary and permanent liquidity in both pesos and foreign currency. The Office of the Financial Superintendent of Colombia, in turn, adopted prudential measures to facilitate changes in the conditions for loans in effect and temporary rules for rating and loan-loss provisions. Finally, the national government expanded the transfers as well as the guaranteed credit programs for the economy. The supply of real credit (i.e. discounting inflation) in the economy is 4% higher today than it was 12 months ago with especially marked growth in the housing (5.6%) and commercial (4.7%) loan portfolios (2.3% in consumer and -0.1% in microloans), but there have been significant changes over time. During the first few months of the quarantine, firms increased their demands for liquidity sharply while consumers reduced theirs. Since then, the growth of credit to firms has tended to slow down, while consumer and housing credit has grown. The financial system has responded satisfactorily to the changes in the respective demands of each group or sector and loans may grow at high rates in 2021 if GDP grows at rates close to 4.6% as the technical staff at the Bank expects; but the forecasts are highly uncertain. After the strict quarantine implemented by authorities in Colombia, the turmoil seen in March and early April, which was evident in the sudden reddening of macroeconomic variables on the risk heatmap in Graph A,[1] and the drop in crude oil and coal prices (note the high volatility registered in market risk for the region on Graph A) the local financial markets stabilized relatively quickly. Banco de la República’s credible and sustained policy response played a decisive role in this stabilization in terms of liquidity provision through a sharp expansion of repo operations (and changes in amounts, terms, counterparties, and eligible instruments), the purchases of public and private debt, and the reduction in bank reserve requirements. In this respect, there is now abundant aggregate liquidity and significant improvements in the liquidity position of investment funds. In this context, the main vulnerability factor for financial stability in the short term is still the high degree of uncertainty surrounding loan quality. First, the future trajectory of the number of people infected and deceased by the virus and the possible need for additional health measures is uncertain. For that reason, there is also uncertainty about the path for economic recovery in the short and medium term. Second, the degree to which the current shock will be reflected in loan quality once the risk materializes in banks’ financial statements is uncertain. For the time being, the credit risk heatmap (Graph B) indicates that non-performing and risky loans have not shown major deterioration, but past experience indicates that periods of sharp economic slowdown eventually tend to coincide with rises in non-performing loans: the calculations included in this report suggest that the impact of the recession on credit quality could be significant in the short term. This is particularly worrying since the profitability of credit establishments has been declining in recent months, and this could affect their ability to provide credit to the real sector of the economy. In order to adopt a forward-looking approach to this vulnerability, this Report presents several stress tests that evaluate the resilience of the liquidity and capital adequacy of credit institutions and investment funds in the event of a hypothetical scenario that seeks to simulate an extreme version of current macroeconomic conditions. The results suggest that even though there could be strong impacts on the credit institutions’ volume of credit and profitability under such scenarios, aggregate indicators of total and core capital adequacy will probably remain at levels that are above the regulatory limits over the horizon of a year. At the same time, the exercises highlight the high capacity of the system's liquidity to face adverse scenarios. In compliance with its constitutional objectives and in coordination with the financial system's security network, Banco de la República will continue to closely monitor the outlook for financial stability at this juncture and will make the decisions that are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the economy, facilitate the flow of sufficient credit and liquidity resources, and further the smooth operation of the payment systems. Juan José Echavarría Governo

Internacionalización del currículo y experiencias pedagógicas. Pertinencia y aprendizaje global en educación superior.

La internacionalización en la educación superior con frecuencia es vinculada exclusivamente a la movilidad académica entrante y saliente, tanto de estudiantes como de profesores. No obstante, las tecnologías de la información y comunicación e incluso situaciones ocasionadas por el nuevo coronavirus (COVID19), han llevado a replantear estos y otros imaginarios relacionados con la internacionalización, resaltando la importancia de procesos de internacionalización en casa e internacionalización del currículo. A través de la presente obra, se pretende llevar al lector por una ruta que le permita apropiar algunos conceptos claves de internacionalización en casa, cuyo eje central es la internacionalización del currículo. Se resalta, también, la mirada a la metodología COIL como una herramienta relevante y relativamente sencilla para potenciar la visibilidad nacional e internacional. La segunda parte del texto consiste en presentar experiencias pedagógicas significativas en el aula, pues se busca desvincular la internacionalización del “aeropuerto y el avión” y llevarla al aula de clase. La visión general que ofrece la obra puede permitir al lector tener una idea amplia de lo que implica la internacionalización del currículo y de esa forma facilitar la construcción de currículos pertinentes y equitativos en las instituciones de educación superior