BOGOTA — Hundreds of thousands of Colombians braved lengthy lines on Friday to take advantage of a one-day lifting of sales tax, even amid a coronavirus quarantine and nearly 10,000 new confirmed infections in just five days. The Andean country has been in lockdown since late March. While certain restrictions have lifted, quarantine is set to last until July 1. The three value added tax-free days planned for this year were announced in late 2019 by President Ivan Duque, before the economy was battered by the twin ills of slumping oil prices and quarantine. Duque has hailed the initiative as a means to jump-start consumption amid soaring unemployment and monthly economic contraction in the double digits, even as some cities enforced lockdown rules which allowed only certain people out.

Source: New York Times June 19, 2020 20:26 UTC