Panama best, Venezuela worst in GDP growth this, next 5 years.

BY LATINVEX STAFF

Panama, the Dominican Republic and Peru continue to lead GDP growth in Latin America, while Argentina and Venezuela remain laggards, according to the latest World Economic Outlook from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) analyzed by Latinvex.

The fund lowered its forecast for Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, by 0.9 percentage points on account of disruptions caused by the 10-day nationwide truck drivers’ strike in May/June and tighter external financial conditions.

Argentina, the region's third-largest economy, will suffer recession this and next year.

“After growing by 2.9 percent in 2017, Argentina is expected to contract by 2.6 percent in 2018, a large downward revision relative to the April 2018 WEO forecast, reflecting recent financial market disruptions, high real interest rates, and the faster fiscal consolidation under the exceptional access Stand-By Arrangement approved in June,” the IMF says. “Growth of 3.2 percent is expected over the medium term under the steady implementation of reforms and returning confidence.”

Meanwhile, basket case Venezuela continues to decline for the fifth consecutive year, following a 14 percent drop in 2017.

“Real GDP is projected to shrink by 18 percent in 2018 and a further 5 percent in 2019, driven by plummeting oil production, and political and social instability,” the IMF says.