The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said that Nicaragua will be one of the three economies where imports will be contracted, as well as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a forecast that is in line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
“The lower dynamism in most Latin American economies that has been observed since the third quarter of 2018 has resulted in a slowdown in the volume of imports. A growth of the volume of imports of only 1.8% is projected for 2019 … Even in some economies such as Argentina, Nicaragua and Venezuela, a strong contraction of imports is projected in 2019”, warns ECLAC in updating its projections disclosed This July 31 of this year.
The ECLAC (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe – Cepal – in Spanish) maintains the projection that it had done in April of this year, given that there is no quick way out of the socio-political crisis.
“In Nicaragua, the internal socio-political conflict has substantially affected economic activity and employment, which contracted 10.5% in 2018 and 16.7% in the first two months of 2019, compared to the same period of the previous year”, explains the ECLAC.
In fact, the most recent report by Conyuntura de Funides, 49,000 to 61,000 jobs are expected lost this year in Nicaragua, which would lead to an increase in poverty and by the end of this year between 1.90 and 1.95 million Nicaraguans will live on US$1.76 dollars or less daily.
With respect to inflation, the ECLAC notes that Nicaragua is the country in the Central American region with the highest inflation.
Source: La Prensa
Article originally appeared on Today Nicaragua and is republished here with permission.
