IMF: Quick return for LatAm economy

USA: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that the economic crisis in Latin America will reach its bottom in the first half of the year 2009 and recover quicker than developed countries.

An official press statement from the international organization released Wednesday states that the region will recover growth in the second semester of 2009, while the advanced economies may not revive until the middle of 2010.

The text specifies that the impact of the world recession in Latin America and the Caribbean has been deep, but on this occasion they are better prepared to overcome the deceleration and to come out of the financial crisis.

It also predicts that the economic activity of the continent will suffer less than in other parts of the world. According to the estimates of the IMF, the Latin American and Caribbean economies will be reduced 1.5 percent this year and experience a positive growth rate of 1.6 percent in 2010.

Such figures are compared with a drop of 3.8 percent in the advanced economies in 2009 and zero growth in 2010.

IMF Western Hemisphere director Nicolas Eyzaguirre, said that the Latin American region at the moment is solid in public finances and the financial sectors, as well as policies that contribute to the softening of external shocks.

As a result, he pointed out, Latin America does not face a fiscal crisis like other regions, nor a banking crisis as with the United States and large parts of Europe. Eyzaguirre specified that the current positive situation is due to the application of anticyclical policies to stimulate production and employment, with maintenance or increase in public expenditures. Washington, Prensa Latina