Hit by five years of economic slowdown, Latin America's economy will grow by barely 0.5% this year, the United Nations economic commission for the region said on Wednesday, well below the 1.3% projected in April.
Poverty and extreme poverty levels rose in Latin America as a regional average in 2015 and 2016, after more than a decade of declines in the majority of countries, while in 2017 they are expected to hold steady, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said.
Ambassadors and representatives of nations that signed the Ottawa Convention called on Monday in Santiago for a quicker clearing of minefields, so that by 2025 the world will be completely free of landmines.
The non encouraging economic outlook for the current year will likely prompt a mild increase in the regional unemployment rate to 6.2% from the 6.0% registered in 2014, according to estimates released by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean will recover in 2015 and reach 2.2% on average, according to new estimates unveiled on Tuesday by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Over the past decade China has become a key partner for Latin America and the Caribbean with bilateral trade increasing 22 fold between 2000 and 2012, albeit with a strong deficit for Latin American countries, according to Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Currency strength due to stimulus measures in the developed world is currently Latin America's Achilles' heel, though the region's macroeconomic management is a bright spot, the head of the United Nations' body for the region said on Monday.
Latin American and Caribbean countries will grow on average 3.5% this year supported by a strong domestic demand and the improved performance of Argentina and Brazil compared with 2012, according to the latest “Updated economic review of Latin America and the Caribbean 2012’ from the UN Economic Commission for Latinamerica and the Caribbean, ECLAC.
According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), labour markets in Latin America and the Caribbean were fairly resilient to the slowdown in the regional economy in the first half of 2012, which bodes well for a positive outcome in this year's employment and unemployment indicators.
Latin America and the Caribbean was the region with the strongest percentage increases as a recipient and source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), according to a report presented Wednesday in Mexico City by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC.