AIMF says Regional Growth Slowing but it’s not bad news

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer 

May 2, 2024 – The Latin America and Caribbean region is projected to see slower economic growth for 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a report published on April 19.

Growth, the organization says, is expected to slow to 2 percent down from 2.3 percent compared to 2023 and this is due to weaker external environments, specifically the trade side, as well as the effects of strict policies put in place to tame inflation, which are still in the process of solidifying.

This may come across as bad news but Rodrigo Valdes, Director Western Hemisphere Department IMF Moderator, in a video press briefing assured that it isn’t.

“We see risk around this baseline projection as broadly balanced. This is not, as we saw this in the past, this is good news, and this reflects basically more balanced global risks,” he maintained.

Considering all of this, Valdes expressed that the region has shown great resilience over the past few years since the pandemic rebound, which he says has been “stronger than expected.”

Valdes spoke to labor markets being in good standing as well as unemployment which remains at historical Lows.

In continuation, he says  inflation is receding throughout the region and is expected to contour to fall for the rest of the year. Rodrigo Valdes further expressed this is thanks to timely action by regional central banks and of the global disinflation trends.

“Risks to inflation have also become more balanced than in the past although it’s still [tilde] to be more persistent or higher than these expectations that it’s going down,” he added.