MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Economic activity in Chile expanded 4.7% in December and 5.5% in the twelve months
Economic activity in Chile grew 4.7% in December from the year earlier on gains in the service and retail industries, and ended the twelve months of 2012 with an expansion of 5.5% over the previous year according to Central bank data. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesWow, keep it green and you're winning!
Feb 08th, 2013 - 05:53 am - Link - Report abuse 0Just think what they could do if they took Mendoza back!!
Feb 08th, 2013 - 01:04 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Very impressive growth and more than most predicted at the start of 2012. The article doesn't mention that the growth was accompanied by a similar increase in wages (6.3%) with the largest percentage increases at the poor end of the scale (poorest 25% saw a 25% increase in 2012).
Feb 08th, 2013 - 01:08 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The article states that private consumption increased 6.4% - I wonder how much of that was due to 2 million Argies doing there shopping over here.
No room for complacency - with the global economy growing meekly we might have to tighten the belt a little.
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Feb 08th, 2013 - 04:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0https://www.facebook.com/HonourRestored
3 @ I agree 100% .....
Feb 08th, 2013 - 06:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0What a luxury Gvt. we have......!!!! Hope it could continous its works for a long time ahead.....A world of difference with the 20 years before with leftist Gvt., even now we have had to deal with a world's very weak economy cycle.....
If it don't continous here because the stupidity wins the election this year, they can help others countries that wishes to growth fast and stable like us this last 4 years.....while we will loose all we have achieved so far.....
This year we must work better and with more efficiency yet and be carefuly with foreing economy development...
@3 Condorito So cool what it did for the.least wealthy. Reminds me of Singapore?
Feb 08th, 2013 - 06:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0This is going to continue for Chile-& Peru! Supposedly there's a new high energy that's settled in the Andes.
ayayay yankee nobody
Feb 08th, 2013 - 07:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0such stupid comments!
@6
Feb 08th, 2013 - 08:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes, it is very encouraging.
There is still a lot of inequality in Chile, but we are going in the right direction.
@Sergio
I like a lot of what this government has achieved too. I hope the tight fiscal control continues who ever we have as the next government, but it will be increasingly difficult as people's expectations of what the government should give them increase.
Saludos.
Chile is headed in the right direction for sure. Chile and Peru have it going on. However, one of the problems they MUST address is the high teen birth rate and all of the people with very little ambition in las poblas. This is what none of the news stories ever talks about. I have intimate knowledge of what's going on in las poblas as that's where my wife is from. Her family alone has contributed significantly to the high birth rate. All of the areas where people were provided government housing at the end of Pinocho's reign were packed in like sardines and have lived in government-supported poverty ever since. The Chilean government has to do something about all of the 13 and 14 year olds having kids. It's pretty ridiculous when you see a woman walking a stroller down the street and you automatically assume it's her kid but it's her GRANDKID! Yeah, in las poblas, there are lot of 30 year old grandmothers walking around. If this isn't addressed, then the average Chilean will be supporting them for their entire lives. The reason I think this is so important is because it's a fairly substantial percentage of the population. Not all Chileans live in La Dehesa. Far from it.
Feb 08th, 2013 - 10:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Keep up the good work Chile. But, address some of those problems nobody wants to address and you'll be good to go. Otherwise, it will all be for naught.
9@ From long ago there were sexual aducation at schools, external medical centers, providing of preservatives for free, etc. The problem with the teens is that they have lost the ontrol from their parents because from the days when “the joy have arrived” (Concertación) a “culture of rights without duties” have been impossed resulting in a total uncontrolled youth with high level of alcohol and grass consumption at parties and streets where irresponsible sex lead to high rate of pregnancy.....Even considering that bad condition, the average rate of birth in Chile is one of the lowest in SA resulting in a country in the way to be a country of ancient people within a years (the longer expectation of life helps too).
Feb 09th, 2013 - 01:11 am - Link - Report abuse 0When Pinochet started the social housing programme the Gvt. incomes were just a smallness of what now are and the people living in “tomas” were too much, so the only possibility to bring them a new house was through those small houses with a proyected enlargement......
Anyway, the contry we enjoy now is much, much better than it was 3 years ago....
Jake, you are right that there is a lot of poverty in the poblas and even though this website doesn't touch on the subject often, if you follow radio Bio Bio on twitter, for example, you will see that such issues are aired daily.
Feb 11th, 2013 - 02:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The segment you refer to is not a substantial percentage of the population. 15% of the population live in poverty according to the UN and that number has been falling almost every year for the last 20 years.
Chile is not as polarized as La Dehesa and the poblas. The vast majority of us live between these extremes. As this article says, the impact of the slowdown of the global economy has been offset by domestic consumption. That consumption is being driven by everyday families whose income has risen sharply.
In industries like construction, wages have risen dramatically and there is still a labor shortage. Anyone who wants a job can find one. It is as you rightly say a lack of ambition in some sectors that needs to be dealt with and that doesn't necessarily need money throwing at it.
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