ICOL - Outlook For Latin America And The Caribbean: New Challenges To Growth
By Alejandro Werner, Director of the Western Hemisphere Department of the International Monetary Fund
Economic activity in Latin America and the Caribbean stagnated in 2019, continuing with the weak growth momentum of the previous five years and adding more urgency and new challenges to reignite growth. Indeed, real GDP per capita in the region has declined by 0.6 percent per year on average during 2014-2019 - a sharp contrast from the commodity boom's average increase of two percent per year during 2000-2013.
This weak momentum reflects structural and cyclical factors. On the structural side, potential