MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

IMF predicts recession for Latinamerica in 2009

Latinamerica’s economy will enter in recession this year as the average of the rest of the world economy IMF director for the Western Hemisphere Nicolas Eyzaguirre said on Wednesday.

The former Chilean Finance minister said he expects the average country in Latin America to be “in negative territory” in 2009, “but not that much”. However he avoided giving a percentage.

In January the IMF projected that the region's economies would expand 1.1% this year, followed by 3% growth in 2010.

Eyzaguirre said that even this more negative outlook would still pale compared to losses projected in the big three economic regions: the United States, Europe and Japan.

“If we compare this with what will happen with G3 (Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela)

IMF has predicted that the global economy will slow this year, having projected a 0.5% rise in global gross domestic product, the lowest level since World War II.

Eyzaguirre warned Latin American financial institutions could suffer continued capital losses, describing the situation as “delicate.”