UN revises Caribbean growth upwards
SANTIAGO, Chile – The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean says regional growth will expand more than previously anticipated this year.
ECLAC’s executive secretary, Alicia Barcena, told reporters that the region’s growth will be more than the 5.2 per cent that was predicted in September.
She attributed the revised estimate primarily to strong exports and high commodity prices.
“This growth rate is higher than expected, but economic performance in the region is very diverse,” Barcena said, adding that the swift economic recovery following a “crisis of proportions rarely experienced in modern economic history” has been driven largely by public policies.
ECLAC said the macroeconomic soundness observed in most countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in the years preceding the global crisis made a significant difference.
“Governments made the most of a period of exceptional international economic and financial boom to straighten their public accounts, reduce and improve the profile of their debts and increase their international reserves,” it said in a statement.
“This process allowed them to apply countercyclical public policies that contributed to economic recovery starting the second half of 2009,” it added.
ECLAC said fiscal and monetary stimulation programs, receding uncertainty, the relative normalisation of financial markets, greater access to loans and a more dynamic world economy led to a gradual recovery throughout the year, with this process consolidating in 2010.
But ECLAC said there is concern about “some highly-indebted Caribbean economies, which are already in a situation of great vulnerability.”
ECLAC said the average indebtedness of Caribbean nations reached about 50 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009, adding that in, some cases, it is even higher, such as in Grenada (83 per cent) and Barbados (93 per cent).
ECLAC said though the region will continue to expand in 2011, it will do so at only about 3.8 per cent – equivalent to a 2.6 per cent increase in per capita.
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