MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay’s two main challenges: infrastructure and education

Economy minister Fernando Lorenzo: beware of self complacency

Two are the main challenges faced by Uruguay to ensure sustained economic growth and to improve inequalities: infrastructure and education, and one main danger, self complacency.

The statements belong to Uruguay’s Economy and Finance Minister Fernando Lorenzo extracted from his speed before the Inter American Development Bank annual assembly held this week in Calgary, Canada.

“At this time the worst of dangers is self complacency”, underlined Lorenzo. The Uruguayan economy has been growing steadily since 2003 and even managed to skip the 2009 slowdown.

In 2010, the economy expanded 8.5% and is forecasted to grow 6% this year although inflation has become a major threat.

“It’s very much true that economic indicators reflect the positive moment the region is going through. Nevertheless at first sight some of those indicators could be hiding significant vulnerabilities in some economies, vulnerabilities that if not addressed could in the future anticipate new crisis”, said Lorenzo describing the regional scenario in which Uruguay sails.

More specifically on Uruguay the minister said that in spite of the efforts and economic achievements, “we haven’t bought the future, although we are optimistic about it”.

“The consolidation of the growth process and the increase of development potential growth in Uruguay and the region depend, according to our modest opinion on certain crucial factors”, pointed out Lorenzo.

Those factors are “consolidation of the productivity levels; significant increase in private and public savings rate and a decisive advance to a greater integration among countries of the region and of the region with the rest of the world”.