ECLAC Will Present its Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2020

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will present on Tuesday, October 6 its Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2020: Main conditioning factors of fiscal and monetary policies in the post-COVID-19 era, the institution’s flagship annual economic report, which takes stock of the region’s economies in the last year, with special emphasis on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, and examines the prospects for the coming months. The latest edition of this document – published by the United Nations regional commission since 1948 – will present an analysis o…

Ampliación de la cobertura de microfinanzas en el área rural del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia: un diagnóstico cualitativo de los esfuerzos actuales y desafíos

El presente trabajo de investigación, es una exploración que busca, sobre todo, poder señalar los posibles caminos a seguir en Bolivia en el desarrollo de las microfinanzas en general y en el área rural en particular. Se basó en entrevistas y visitas de campo y se realizó entre julio y agosto de 2008. Dos fueron los ejes en los que se movió esta investigación: 1.-El rol de las microfinanzas para combatir la pobreza.2.-Tratar de descubrir como lograr que las instituciones microfinancieras presten servicios financieros productivos en el área rural. Asimismo, detalla las posibles acciones para:Am…

The demand for cash: stylized facts and substitution by electronic means of payment

This article analyses the impact of the increasing use of electronic means of payment on the demand for cash (banknotes and coins). It estimates two models: one with panel data and the other with cross-sectional data. The two methodologies offer complementary views for evaluating the degree to which electronic means of payment act as a determinant of currency in circulation. The study identifies an intense substitution process between cash and electronic means of payment, which is common to most of the economies analysed. However, there are also a number of idiosyncratic factors that explain t…

New directions for development banking in the Caribbean: financing to take advantage of unlimited supplies of labour skills and entrepreneurship

Abstract In the early 1980s, within the wider structural adjustment and liberalisation framework, financial sector reform were initiated to allow greater facility of market forces in the pricing and allocation of financial resources. The sector has been increasingly liberalised since then with subsequent on-going reform addressing the legislative and regulatory frameworks. The on-going reforms have sought to improve resource flows for productive investment. Nevertheless, there are persistent fractures and imperfections in the credit market. Development banking seeks to define and reso…

Financial openness, financial fragility and policies for economic stability: a comparative analysis across regions of the developing world

En este libro se presenta un análisis comparativo de las respuestas de política de los países en desarrollo de África, Asia y América Latina y el Caribe a los retos que una mayor apertura financiera externa y la flexibilidad de los precios y el tipo de cambio plantean a la estabilidad económica. La mayor apertura externa ha reducido considerablemente el margen normativo de las economías en desarrollo y, al mismo tiempo, ha aumentado el potencial de fragilidad e inestabilidad financieras. Estos retos, que han pasado a un primer plano desde la crisis financiera mundial de 2008-2009, también se m…

Prospects for blockchain-based settlement frameworks as a resolution to the threat of de-risking to Caribbean financial systems

Caribbean countries have been seriously impacted by the trend toward “de-risking” in the global financial system, and this is damaging to their economic security and the ability of Caribbean businesses to innovate. De-risking is the name given to the tendency of banking institutions to turn away from working relationships and lines of business for which the cost of regulatory compliance—and the risk of non-compliance— is deemed to be too high in comparison to the returns. This is a phenomenon that is affecting developing economies around the world, but the small and vulnerable economies of the…

The European Investment Bank and SMEs: key lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean

This paper discusses the engagement of the European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group) with the financing and support of SMEs, both within the European Union (EU) as well as EU Candidate Countries and the Balkans. Indeed, lending and providing financial support to SMEs is one of the key core objectives of the EIB Group. The main focus of the paper is to describe and analyse the practises and experiences of the EIB Group in this field, to discuss the key lessons and to make policy recommendations to be considered within the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) context. The large role played by the …

Insurance underwriter or financial development fund: what role for reserve pooling in Latin America?

Abstract The unprecedented accumulation of international reserves by emerging markets raises the question of how to best utilize these funds; in particular if they should be held as a war chest to guard against the risk of financial crisis or if they should be used to recapitalize and strengthen weak banking systems. A third issue is if the resource cost could be limited by pooling the holdings of different central banks and if so, to what objectives should this reserve pool be put. This paper considers these questions with reference to the countries participating in the Latin American…

Central American Isthmus: economic evolution during 2005 and perspectives for 2006 (final evaluation)

1. Rasgos generales de la evolución reciente La actividad económica en el Istmo Centroamericano registró en 2005 una expansión igual a la del año anterior (4%), apenas por debajo del promedio de América Latina y el Caribe (4,3%). Excluyendo a Panamá, la tasa de crecimiento se elevó de 3,3% a 3,6%. También fue notable una menor dispersión de las tasas alrededor del promedio. Todos los países se hallan en la fase expansiva del ciclo económico, ya que se cumplieron tres años de incremento del producto interno bruto (PIB) por habitante, después del retroceso ocurrido en el bienio 2001-2002. Si …

Economic survey of the Caribbean 2014: Reduced downside risks and better prospects for a recovery

The current survey provides an overview of the economic performance for 2013 of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago plus the eight member states of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) and the outlook for 2014 and 2015. Data were collected from a review of reports from national governments and through interviews with government officials in each of the countries analyzed.…

The United States subprime mortgage crisis and its implications for the Caribbean

The bursting of the property bubble – subprime mortgage crisis – in 2007 in the United States has engendered panic, recession fears and turmoil in the global financial system. Although the United States economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2007, down from 4.9 per cent in the previous quarter, day by day worsening scenarios emerge, from escalating oil prices, to a depreciating dollar and financial institutions’ bailout by the Federal Reserve. Many economists and policy makers share the view that a subprime-led recession – i.e. two consecutive quarters with negative growth – is in…

Potential output in Latin America: a standard approach for the 1950-2002 period

(*) This document was prepared by André A. Hofman of the Economic Projections Center of the Statistics Division, and Heriberto Tapia research assistant in the office of the Executive Secretary of ECLAC. The views expressed in this document, which has been reproduced without formal editing, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Organization.. Abstract Potential output estimates are becoming increasingly important in policy design in Latin America (ECLAC, 2002) and the objective of this paper is to make a methodological contribution to this field of work…

Modeling regional macroeconomic interactions: situation and perspectives for macroeconomic coordination in Latin America. Background paper prepared for the REDIMA workshop on Modeling Macroeconomic Coordination in the Andean Community, (Santiago, Chile...

Hubert Escaith is Director of Statistics and Economic Projections Division, ECLAC. The views expressed in this document, which has been reproduced without formal editing, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Organization.. This paper was prepared for the REDIMA workshop on Modeling Macroeconomic Coordination in the Andean Community, Santiago, Chile 22 October 2003. Introduction The early 1990s opened a new era for the analysis of economic interactions between Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries. Two channels, real and financial, conveyed th…

Growth with stability: financing for development in the new international context

Foreword In contrast to its situation during the lost decade , in the 1990s the Latin American and Caribbean region regained its access to international capital markets. Its return to these markets, in combination with a commitment to achieving basic macroeconomic equilibria, was manifested in smaller fiscal deficits and lower inflation, but the region has recovered only part of the ground it had lost in terms of its pace of economic growth. Thus, the region's economies have not been growing fast enough to strengthen their labour markets or to reduce poverty significantly. …

For Climate Finance, Caribbean Countries Must Link Climate Finance with Sustainable Development

Caribbean countries must be able to make the connection between climate finance and sustainable development to receive much-needed funding for climate resilience, mitigation, and adaptation. That is the view of ECLAC Caribbean consultant Cathal Healy-Singh, on how Caribbean SIDS (Small Island Developing States) can tackle what has emerged as one of their main development challenges.…

Séptima Reunión - Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible 2024

La Séptima Reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible se llevará a cabo en Santiago, del 15 al 18 de abril de 2024.…

Distributional impacts of low for long interest rates

This paper asks whether tepid inflation in Canada since the financial crisis can in part be explained by the effects of monetary policy on inequality. Using different structural vector autoregression models we show that expansionary monetary policy post-crisis has offset otherwise falling inequality through the shifting of resources away from lower-income individuals, which in general have higher marginal propensities to consume. As a result, aggregate demand has not risen as much as it otherwise would have, leading to a more muted inflationary response. Our results suggest that failure to acc…

Globalization of financial markets: implications for the Caribbean

Introduction Globalization can be defined in terms of the internationalization of production [Goode, 1998, p.125], or in terms of the internationalization of markets [Lloyd, 1998, p. 163]. The former recognizes the fact that even relatively minor products are frequently found to be made with components from several countries. The latter, on the other hand, recognizes that the cross border flows of the products themselves have increased tremendously over the last two decades. This is particularly true in the case of international financial services. This report examines the globalizati…

SIDS 4: Now or never for small island survival

Institutional requirements for market-led development in Latin America

Abstract This paper seeks to provide a systematized framework for the main ideas that have been developed by ECLAC concerning the effects that market-led reforms have had on labour, financial and technology markets. In order to explore these questions further, a research project has been undertaken by ECLAC with the sponsorship of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). The project deals with the institutional requirements for properly functioning financial, technology and labour markets. Particular attention is being devoted to the institutional forces affecting market access by tr…