Latin American countries are expected to register on average 4.1% GDP growth this year, more than previously expected but not enough however to fully offset the decline observed in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, announced Thursday the Cepalc.
Read also: How is Latin America coping with Covid-19?
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, a technical body of the United Nations based in Santiago (Chile), now expects stronger growth than expected in its previous estimate in December (+ 3.7%).
"The region experienced a decline of 7.1% in 2020 and should see its economy grow by 4.1% this year, which will not however allow it to return to the level of activity before the pandemic"
, a declared the executive secretary of Cepalc, Alicia Barcena, on the occasion of the presentation of a special edition of the journal published by the organization.
"Uncertainties about the future"
This resumption of growth, however, depends on a context of many
"uncertainties"
, added Alicia Barcena.
"The unequal access to vaccines, the vaccination processes and their effectiveness which are not guaranteed either, place us in front of important uncertainties concerning the future"
, she detailed. Region most affected by the pandemic as well as by its economic and social consequences, Latin America could be facing a recovery which
"can be asymmetrical, divergent and lead to more differences".
The significant impact of the pandemic in the region, which has resulted in a record number of 44 million unemployed people,
"is due to long-standing structural factors which foreshadowed its dysfunctional development style
,
"
insisted Alicia Barcena and her partner. Deputy Executive Secretary, Mario Cimoli, in the review. According to them, the economic recovery
"will have to lead, at the same time, to significant structural reforms of production, fiscal and institutional in order to move towards the establishment of a new type of development, inclusive and sustainable"
.
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