14 August 2015 - Business View Caribbean
Opening
Lines
Latin America and the Caribbean Will
Grow Just 0.5% in 2015
The countries in Latin America and the Caribbean
will grow 0.5%on average in 2015, according to new
projections released by the Economic Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) during
a press conference in Santiago, Chile. Although the
deceleration is a generalized phenomenon in the
region, the organization forecasts heterogeneous
growth among subregions and countries; South
America will contract -0.4%, Central America and
Mexico will grow 2.8%, and the Caribbean will ex-
pand 1.7%.
On a national level, Panama will lead the regional
expansion with a 6.0% increase, followed by Anti-
gua and Barbuda (5.4%) and the Dominican Repub-
lic and Nicaragua (both with 4.8%). Mexico’s Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) will grow 2.4% while
Argentina’s will rise 0.7%. Brazil will experience a
contraction of -1.5% while Venezuela will face an
even greater decline of -5.5%.
Upon presenting its most recent annual report, the
Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC) called for vitalizing the invest-
ment process to resume growth and improve pro-
ductivity in the region’s economies.
According to the Economic Survey of Latin America
and the Caribbean 2015, the economic slowdown is
Vitalizing investment is key to boosting growth and productivity in the region, ECLAC indicates in a new report.
