ECLAC: Growth in Latin America will be 3.3 %
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean indicated that after the 7.7 % drop in 2020, a better scenario is expected for next year
The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) updated its forecasts for the Latin American region, with a projection of growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 3.7 % in 2021, after a fall of 7.7 % this year, its worst economic crisis in 120 years.
According to a document presented by the agency, in a context of global contraction, Latin America and the Caribbean is the region most affected in the developing world by the crisis derived from the coronavirus.
By region, Central America would fall 6.5 % in 2020 and will expand 3.8 % next year. Meanwhile, the Caribbean would record a contraction of 7.9 % in 2020 and a growth of 4.2 % in 2021.
This is explained by the combination of several factors. Mainly, in the decade prior to the pandemic, the region showed a low growth trajectory, to which is added a 2020 that faces an unprecedented combination of negative supply and demand shocks.
In this context, ECLAC warned that despite the recovery and the best forecast for this year, which previously pointed to a contraction of 9.1 %, the figure for 2021 will not be enough to recover the levels of pre-pandemic economic activity. In fact, next year’s recovery will primarily be a statistical rebound, but recovery to 2019 levels would not be reached until 2024.
Although the governments deployed important fiscal and monetary efforts to manage the crisis, the economic and social consequences of the pandemic have been exacerbated by the structural problems that the region has historically dragged.
K. Tovar
Source: dpa
