MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

World Bank predicts ten million will fall into poverty in Latinamerica

Chief economist Augusto de la Torre

The World Bank forecasts that about ten million people will join the ranks of the poor in Latin America this year as a result of the global economic slowdown, reversing social gains since 2002.

“The pain that the global crisis has inflicted on Latin America and the Caribbean is not trivial and will induce some reversals in social gains” Augusto de la Torre, the bank’s chief economist for the region, said in an e-mailed report.

The World Bank estimates 60 million people in the region were lifted out of poverty in the seven years through 2008.

The bank also said the global economic recovery is taking place “earlier than anticipated,” led by countries with trade and business ties with China, such as Brazil.

Brazil’s GDP expanded 1.9% in the April-to-June period from the previous three months, the first expansion since the third quarter of 2008. Growth in Brazil, Latinamerica’s largest economy, is followed by Argentina and Chile, the bank said today.

Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Uruguay “seem to have reached a bottom,” while the economies of Peru and Venezuela show no signs of bottoming out, the bank said.

De la Torre said Latinamerica is well positioned for recovery and could contribute to the world's rebound more than China, adding that the region should get out of the world crisis relatively unscathed and even emerge as an attractive destination for investment.