MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Except for Argentina, the ECLAC study highlights that in the region “inflationary pressures have slowed down”

Except for Argentina, the ECLAC study highlights that in the region “inflationary pressures have slowed down.”

According to an ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean: an organization of the United Nations that supports trade and economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean) study released Thursday, Latin America's growth for the year 20023 was forecast to be averaging 1.2%.

In a document far less optimistic than others published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), some countries will show some progress but Argentina has been projected to drop 2%.

The Santiago de Chile-based agency warned that the scenario was “complex” because, in addition to global increases in interest rates, “the financial turbulences observed at the beginning of March”, such as the bankruptcy of different banks, among them the Silicon Valley Bank, in the United States, were added.

“The growth projection for 2023 is subject to downside risks due to the possibility of a resurgence and accentuation of turbulence in the global banking system, which would result in a more persistent tightening of global financial conditions,” ECLAC feared. This year the region once again has “limited” space for fiscal policy and “it is not expected that a cycle of monetary relaxation will become generalized in the region,” the report added.

Venezuela (5 %), Panama (4.6 %), and the Dominican Republic (4.6 %) will lead economic growth this year, followed by Paraguay (4.2 %), the Caribbean islands (3.5 %), Guatemala (3.2 %), Honduras (3 %), Costa Rica (2.7 %) and Nicaragua (2.3 %), according to the study.

El Salvador, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, will all grow by around 2 %, followed by Cuba and Mexico (1.5 %). And still with positive figures stand Colombia (1.2 %) and Brazil (0.8 %).

Negative figures await Chile (-0.3 %), Haiti (-0.7 %), and Argentina (-2 %), the agency also said.

Overall, South America will grow by 0.6 % compared to 3.8 % in 2022, while Central America and Mexico will grow by 2 % compared to 3.5 percent in 2022. The Caribbean will grow 3.5 %, from last year's 5.8 %.

Except for Argentina, the ECLAC study highlights that in the region “inflationary pressures have slowed down.”