Venezuela to Get the Highest Growth Rates in LATAM: IMF

On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published the most recent edition of the World Economic Outlook (WEO), a report that anticipates that Venezuela will be among the Latin American countries with the best macroeconomic performance in the next two years.

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Despite the U.S. sanctions against the Bolivarian revolution, the Venezuelan gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 5 percent in 2023 and 4.5 percent in 2024.

In the rest of the Latin American countries, however, the macroeconomic situation will not be as good as the regional growth average will decrease.

Compared to the version of the WEO published in January, the IMF downgraded the prospects for the Latin American average growth from 1.8 percent to 1.6 percent.

According to the latest production simulations, the IMF expects moderate growth rates in 2023 in Paraguay (4.5 percent), Ecuador (2.9 percent), Uruguay (2 percent), Bolivia (1.8 percent), and Mexico (1.8 percent).

For 2024, the April WEO forecasts slight changes in growth trends in Paraguay (3.5 percent), Uruguay (2.9 percent), Ecuador (2.8 percent), Bolivia (1.9 percent), and Mexico (1.6 percent).

Among the countries that will experience lean growth rates are Argentina (0.2 percent in 2023 and 2 percent in 2024) and Colombia (1 percent in 2023 and 1.9 percent in 2024).

The IMF also warned that Chile will experience a recession in 2023 when its GDP will contract -1 percent. In 2024, however, the Chilean GDP growth rate is expected to reach 1.9 percent.