Latin America. Despite the volatile conditions currently experienced by the euro zone and the United States, Latin America continues to show growth during the first months of this year and even the slowdown it registered in the second half of 2011 decreased.
This was indicated by the macroeconomic report of Latin America and the Caribbean presented by ECLAC, in which, after analyzing the numbers of each country, it established its growth goal for the region in 2012 at 3.7%, lower than that of 2011 which stood at 4.3%.
ECLAC indicates that in the first months of 2012 private consumption explains most of the increase in the region's gross domestic product (GDP). Growth was associated with increased domestic demand, with the services sector, particularly trade, being one of the most dynamic.
In addition, it points out that during the first quarter of the year the deceleration trend observed in several countries in 2011 was stopped and partially reversed. Compared to the same period of the previous year there were significant increases in the growth rate in Peru, Chile and Venezuela and a slight increase in Mexico, while the cooling of the Brazilian economy observed during 2011 was interrupted.
Growth was lower than at the beginning of 2011 in Argentina, Colombia and Guatemala, but only Paraguay experienced a negative rate during this first quarter of 2012.
According to the entity's forecasts, by country the expected growth for 2012 is: Panama 8%, Haiti 6%, Peru 5.7%, Bolivia 5.2%, Costa Rica 5%, Venezuela will grow 5%, Chile 4.9%, Mexico 4%, Argentina 3.5% and Brazil 2.7%.
