Coronavirus: Economic crisis in Latin America could be the biggest in history, according to ECLAC.
According to the ECLAC report, the region's economy will experience a sharp decline, potentially reaching -5,3% in 2020.
247 - The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, issued a report on the effects of the pandemic in Latin America. According to the report, the region's already low economic growth in recent years (0,4% on average between 2014 and 2019) will be worsened by the crisis caused by the coronavirus, potentially experiencing a sharp drop to -5,3% in 2020.
The report points out that similar rates occurred only in 1914 (-4,3%), at the beginning of World War I, and in 1930 (-5%), a year after the 1929 New York Stock Exchange crash.
The report indicates that the crisis is due to a reduction in international trade; a fall in the prices of primary products; increased risk prevention; low demand for tourism services; and a reduction in remittances. The document points to an increase in unemployment, poverty, and inequality.