The agency noted that the contraction projection for Argentina is worse than the one estimated in May: it now foresees a sharp drop of 3.6% from 3.1% previously. It also revised Mexico’s performance downwards: 1.9%, from 2.5% in May.
ECLAC also worsened its projection for regional growth by 2024, from 2.1% to 1.8%, for a “uncertain international context”. “Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to continue on a low growth trajectory” determined “due to a high level of inflation and interest rates that remain high worldwide,” ECLAC stated in a report.
“This situation may be aggravated by a possible exacerbation of geopolitical and trade tensions, as well as by the worsening effects of climate change.”highlighted the United Nations agency based in Santiago.
At the regional level, ECLAC stated that growth “is hampered by a loss of household purchasing power” and by “the restrictive stance of monetary policy” -with high rates-, which affects domestic demand and discourages investment.
According to the report, in the decade 2015-2024, Latin American countries have shown low economic growth.with an average rate of 0.9%. ECLAC projects a growth of 2.3% for the region by 2025.
For Brazil, the largest regional economy, ECLAC maintains a projection of 2.3% for this year. GDP expansion. The projection of Colombia also remains the same, at 1.3%.
For countries like Venezuela (5.0%), Chile (2.6%), Peru (2.6%), Costa Rica (4.0%), Nicaragua (1.9%), El Salvador (3.55) and the Dominican Republic (5.2%) improved their projections.
Source: Ambito
