MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fallout from global financial turbulences finds Chile strong

After the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that the economic crisis in the United States has not yet peaked, Chile's Minister of Finance Andres Velasco assured government officials this week Chile is prepared for economic turbulence.

US businesses remain jittery as an influx of reports of negative economic indicators continues. The bad economic news is highlighted by the collapse of the once-soaring housing market, and new projections by the IMF saying the effects of the crisis will continue to reverberate. "The period ahead could be difficult and the adjustment process will require some time" said the IMF most recent bi-annual Report on Economic Stability. "[Economic troubles] have not yet have arrived at a calming point." Meeting in private with the government's political committee, Minister Velasco informed the high-ranking officials that, while fallout from any American economic crises could impact Chile, the nation is better prepared than most. "The United States is in a delicate crisis" said Radical Socialist Democratic Party President Carlos Abel Jarpa, an attendee at the meeting. "But the Minister said Chile is in good shape to confront economic conditions." Velasco did not publicly comment on the meeting, but other attendees noted that he believed Chile is better equipped for economic crisis than most other emerging economies and other nations in Latin America. The Santiago Times