LATIN AMERICA APPROACHING FOUR CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH.
Latin American economies will have undergone four consecutive years of growth by the end of 2006, the second time in a quarter-century that has occurred, reports the Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The UN-based commission headquartered in Santiago, Chile, credits this period of expansion to high prices for export products, low interest rates in the US, and an abundance of liquidity on international investment markets. ECLAC anticipates that Latin America and the Caribbean will see around 5% growth by the end of the year, though analysts fear the growth will not cut deeply into perennially high poverty rates.
ECLAC: 17.6% GDP increase in four years
ECLAC states that this is the second time in 25 years that the region will see four consecutive years of growth, with the regional GDP posting a cumulative rise of 17.6%--an average annual increase of 4.3%--and per capita GDP registering a 12% increase.
The body says there has been substantial improvement during the last quarter-century, but the region continues to show less dynamism than the rest of the developing world (see NotiSur, 2006-05-19).
ECLAC projects that regional GDP growth will be about 4.5% in 2007, within the context of a moderate slowdown of the world economy. This economic expansion will be spread across Latin America and the Caribbean, ranging between 3.5% and 6.5% for most countries. The exceptions are Argentina, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela, with growth rates over 7.5%, and Haiti, at about 2.5%.
The Caribbean nations are expected to grow by 6.3%; South America by 5.4%; and Mexico and Central America by some 4.1%.
The commission announced these figures at the July 25 release of its Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2005-2006.
The quick growth of Asian economies, along with high US consumption levels, have helped revive the export manufacturing industry in Mexico and other Central American countries. The Chinese steel industry has gobbled up Brazilian iron, while Chinese electric-plant construction has led to increased copper prices in Peru and Chile (see NotiSur, 2005-11-11 and 2006-02-24). Meat consumption among China's large population has significantly increased Argentine cattle sales.
Exposure to Chinese competition in areas like textile manufacturing, however, set back economies in Mexico and Central American and in Caribbean countries, meaning South American nations generally performed more strongly.
Venezuela has...
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