World Bank foresees a 7.2% contraction for Latin America
In the latest report, the financial institution spoke about the macroeconomic prospects in the Latin American and Caribbean region
The World Bank published forecasts for the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, going from the contraction of 7.2% estimated in June to the current 7.9%.
The latest macroeconomic outlook report for the region reveals that Latin America and the Caribbean is currently the most affected by the pandemic, both in the health field, with more than 33% of the deaths globally, as well as economically, in a context in which Latin economies are affected by a drop in external demand, greater economic uncertainty, a collapse in tourism and the consequences of months of confinement.
“Our region supports the worst economic and health impact due to Covid-19 worldwide, something that requires greater clarity regarding how to combat the pandemic and regain the economic course in the face of a rapid recovery”, highlights the vice president of the World Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean, Carlos Felipe Jaramillo.
Among the hardest hit economies, several Caribbean islands stand out for their dependence on tourism, such as Saint Lucia (-18%), Belize (-17.3%), Bahamas (-14.5%), Surinam (-13%) , as well as the case of Mexico (-10%), also highly dependent on tourism.
On the other hand, the forecasts for the main economies of the region show significant falls, although of very different magnitude depending on the country. Thus, Brazil will contract by 5.4%, Argentina will collapse by 12.3%, Colombia will fall by 7.2% and Chile will contract by 6.3%.
Regarding the smallest drops, those of Haiti (-3.1%), Paraguay (-3.2%), Uruguay (-4%) and the Dominican Republic (-4.3%) stand out, all of them below 5 %, unlike Costa Rica (-5.4%), Bolivia (-7.3%) or Ecuador (-11%).
Guyana is the only country that has a positive growth projection of 23.2%, given the discoveries of oil fields in the country.
K. Tovar
Source: dpa
