Although it remains among the Latin American and Caribbean countries expected to lead economic growth, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) reduced its growth projection for the Dominican Republic from 4.6% to 3.7%, according to the updated regional GDP growth projections for this year, released yesterday, Tuesday.
The entity had projected 4.6% last April. In fact, the Dominican government itself also revised its growth outlook for 2023 downward. In March, it projected that the country would end the year at 4.25%, in June it lowered it to 4%, and in August it reduced it by one percentage point to 3%.
This decision stems from the economic uncertainty that prevails both in the international and domestic environment, the Ministry of Economy states in its Macroeconomic Outlook 2023-2027 report corresponding to August.
ECLAC, a United Nations agency based in Santiago, Chile, raised its regional GDP growth projection for 2023 on Tuesday from 1.2%, estimated last April, to 1.7%, but warned that the global macroeconomic scenario remains "complex".
He explained in a new report that the global economy "remains on a path of low economic growth" and that "developed countries will continue with their contractionary monetary policies," despite the declines in inflation rates.
"A significant drop in external interest rates is not expected this year, and financing costs for our countries will remain high," said ECLAC, which projects regional GDP growth of 1.5% for 2024.
The low growth in 2023 and 2024 will result in a slowdown in employment, which will grow by only 1.9% in 2023 and 1.1% in 2024, according to the document "Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2023. Financing a sustainable transition: investment to grow and face climate change.".
The region will also have "limited" fiscal space, due to high levels of public debt, rising domestic and external interest rates, and falling tax revenues resulting from slower growth, the agency said.
"The low growth of Latin America and the Caribbean could be aggravated by the negative effects of an intensification of climate shocks, if the investments in adaptation and mitigation to climate change that the countries require are not made," said ECLAC Executive Secretary JoséManuel Salazar-Xirinachs during the presentation of the study.
They decrease
Panama (5.1%), Paraguay (4.2%) and the Caribbean islands (4.2%, excluding Guyana) will lead economic growth this year, followed by Costa Rica (3.8%), the Dominican Republic (3.7%), Honduras and Guatemala, both with an expansion of 3.4%.
- In the middle of the table are Venezuela (3.2%), Mexico (2.9%), Brazil (2.5%), Nicaragua (2.4%), Ecuador (2.3%), Bolivia (2.2%) and El Salvador (2.1%).
At the bottom of the list, but still with positive figures, are Cuba (1.8%), Peru (1.3%), Colombia (1.2%) and Uruguay (1%), while Chile (-0.3%), Haiti (-0.7%) and Argentina (-3%) are the only ones that will decrease this year, according to the United Nations agency.
With information from EFE.
Cover photo: External source.
