ECLAC said the DR economy will be one of the three fastest growing in the region by 2023.
Santiago de Chile, Apr. 20.- According to projections published this Thursday by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the economy of the Dominican Republic will be one of the three that will grow the most in the region by 4.6 percent in 2023. (ECLAC).
This United Nations organization, based in Santiago de Chile, noted that the Dominican Republic presents the same growth rate as Panama (4.6%), while Venezuela appears in the ratings as the Latin American country with the greatest progress, i.e. 5%.
These economies are expected to be followed by Paraguay (4.2%), Caribbean Islands (3.5%), Guatemala (3.2%), Honduras (3%), Costa Rica (2.7%) and Nicaragua (2.3%).
Project of other economies
In the middle of the ECLAC growth projection table are El Salvador, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia with 2% estimates, followed by Cuba and Mexico with 1.5% increases.
Below, but with more positive figures, are only Colombia (1.2%) and Brazil (0.8%), Chile (-0.3%), Haiti (-0.7%) and Argentina (- 2%). This year will decrease.
Globally, ECLAC slightly lowered its regional GDP growth for 2023 from 1.3% estimated last December to 1.2%, mainly due to “growing external uncertainties and internal constraints”.
Complex view
According to the firm, the situation is “complicated” because, to the increase in interest rates worldwide, “the financial turmoil seen at the beginning of March was added”, such as the bankruptcy of various banks, including Silicon Valley Bank, in the United States.
“The 2023 growth forecast is subject to downside risks given the potential for turbulence in the global banking system to re-emerge and intensify, further tightening global financial conditions,” it warned.
According to ECLAC, the region has “limited” room for fiscal policy this year and “cannot expect a cycle of deflation to become more widespread in this region.”
Inflation tends to decrease
Inflation in Latin America and the Caribbean shows a “downward trend” and although the process of raising interest rates is expected to be close in many countries of the region, the effects of policy restraint measures on private consumption and investment will be felt more strongly this year.
After a 6.8% decline recorded in 2020, Latin America, the world’s most unequal region and hardest hit by the pandemic, grew by 6.9% in 2021 due to the worst recession in 120 years.
The slowdown in the region began in the second half of 2022, which closed with an estimated growth of 3.7%, according to ECLAC, which has yet to provide final figures on the matter. EFE
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