– according to WESP 2014 report
Like last year, the United Nations’ annual World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report 2014 projects that Guyana will take the lead in economic growth for Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by Haiti.
Both countries are projected to grow by 4.5 percent this year. The report said that Guyana grew by 4.6 percent in 2013, while Haiti was pegged at 3.5 percent. Guyana has experienced seven years of consecutive economic growth.
Overall in the Caribbean region, growth is projected at 3.3 percent for this year. Last year, growth for the Caribbean region was estimated at 2.4 percent in 2013, slightly slower than in the last two years.
Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to hasten their growth to 3.6 percent and 4.1 percent in the next couple of years, up from 2.6 percent in 2013, according to WESP.
The report attributes the positive growth in 2014-2015 to sound macroeconomic policies, resilient domestic demand and the gradual recovery in developed economies. However, it warns that economic growth remains subject to growth in other economies, mainly the euro area, the United States and China, which is now growing at a slower pace than in previous years.
In 2013, although the region experienced growth, economic expansion was uneven. South America led with 3.2 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013, up from 2.5 percent in 2012, due to a rebound in Argentina and Brazil.
Slow down
By contrast, in Mexico and Central America, economic activity is estimated to have slowed down to 1.5 percent in 2013 from four percent in 2012, in part because the Mexican economy has faced structural constraints and GDP growth decelerated significantly to only 1.2 percent.
WESP is produced at the beginning of each year by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the five United Nations regional commissions.
A report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in December last puts Guyana’s economic growth close to WESP’s projections, that is 4.6 percent in 2014.
With regards to the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC said they are projected to expand by 3.2 percent in 2014, which is higher than the 2.6 percent from the end of 2013, a Government Information Agency (GINA) release said.
ECLAC stated in its annual preliminary overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean for 2013 that less buoyant external demand, greater international financial volatility and falling consumption were the factors determining the more modest economic performance of countries in 2013, which brought down the three percent estimate put forward by the commission in July.
