A new “Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean” report released by ECLAC raised its growth forecast for the Region from 5.2% in July to 5.9%. Despite the encouraging improvement, these figures remain below par to bounce back from 2019’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with the Caribbean posited to grow by 4.1%.
The growth in 2021, according to the study, is mainly explained by a low comparison base – after the historic contraction of 6.8% in 2020. The structural problems that limited the region’s growth before the pandemic, such as low investment and productivity, informality, unemployment, inequality and poverty, “have worsened and will negatively affect economic activity and labour markets,” the commission pointed out. (MP)