Though countries within the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region are experiencing persistent economic challenges, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) projects a 37.2 per cent growth rate for Guyana this year.
All subregions, a new ECLAC report stated, are expected to record lower economic growth this year compared to 2022.
It was noted that South America will grow by 0.6 per cent in 2023 (versus 3.8 per cent in 2022); the group made up of Central America and Mexico will expand by 2.0 per cent (in comparison to the 3.5 per cent recorded in 2022); and the Caribbean (without Guyana) will grow by 3.5 per cent (in comparison to 5.8 per cent rate recorded in 2022).
With Guyana’s growth included, the Caribbean’s economic growth is pegged at 9.1 per cent.
In Caribbean economies specifically, ECLAC said the lower growth rate is largely attributed to inflation, which is simply the rate of increase of prices over a period of time.
Because of the increased cost of goods, ECLAC said consumption and production costs are affected too. Those factors have a negative impact on the competitiveness of exports, both of goods as well as tourism.
Even so, Guyana’s nascent oil and gas economy and spinoff business opportunities continue to contribute to the country’s high levels of economic growth.
Guyana’s 37.2 per cent growth rate is the highest in the region. The second highest growth rate is expected in Antigua and Barbuda (9.5 per cent) then in the Dominican Republic (4.6 per cent) and Panama (4.6 per cent).
“The 2023 growth projection for the (LAC) region is subject to downside risks given the possibility that turbulence in the global banking system, or in the financial system as a whole, could return and intensify, which would lead to a longer-lasting tightening of global financial conditions, with the resulting impacts on the access to and cost of financing,” ECLAC noted.
It added that economic uncertainty remains about the effects – on the world and on the region – that a possible prolongation of the war in Ukraine and increase in geoeconomic fragmentation could have on economic growth, commodities prices and global trade.
