Previous Story
The IMF projects that Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil and Ecuador close 2016 into recession
Posted On 25 Jan 2016
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that Argentina, Venezuela and Ecuador will join Brazil and also close 2016 into recession, and dragging the region to its second straight year of negative growth, estimated at -0.3%. In the updating of forecasts within its “Regional Economic Outlook” report, the Fund forecasted a contraction of Argentina in 2016 of 1%, compared with a 0.7% of three months ago; 8% for Venezuela (6% in October), and Ecuador, which will also go into negative territory, although milder, after earlier forecasts of a barely positive 0.1%.
Meanwhile, the economies of Colombia (2.7%), Chile (2.1%) and Peru (3.3%), despite the adjustments due to the complex global scenario, keep “a positive growth of between 2% and 3% for 2016,” said Alejandro Werner, director of the IMF for Latin America at a press conference.
Werner described the beginning of 2016 as “difficult” due to “the recent bouts of financial volatility, resulting from the uncertainty about the economic slowdown in China, falling prices of raw materials and currency divergent policies implemented by advanced economies.” According to data of the Fund, the Latin American reality hides “subregional economic differences.”
