UN Annual Report expects less growth in 2015 & slow growth in 2016 for Caribbean & Latin America

​In its annual report, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC) reportedly said countries in the Caribbean and Latin America will face a “bleak and complex economic situation in 2016 as they take a marked step-back this year”. The report said the Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America & the Caribbean indicates that the economies will have contracted by -0.4% on average in 2015 & will grow just 0.2% next year.
 
It stated that 2015 was productive for the Dominican Republic, which grew 6.6%, followed by Panama & Bolivia with 5.9% growth and Cuba and Nicaragua with 4.0%. The commission’s Executive Secretary Alicia Barcena said Cuba did good work, but highlighted the need to lift the US blockade. The Mexican diplomat says that diminished the economic development of the Island. Overall, the forecast for the region is grim, especially for countries like Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia.
 
The report said these commodity countries were affected by low oil prices since the end of 2014. The adversities also stem from external factors, with global growth forecast to remain slow, and reach only 2.9% in 2016. ECLAC says Latin America is directly affected by this issue because China, which is one of the region’s main trading partners, will continue decelerating to 6.4% next year. The only good news is this adversity will bring the region into stabilisation in 2017, Barcena concluded.