The International Monetary Fund (IMF) foresees a “partial and uneven” recovery in Latin America from the COVID-19 crisis, according to number two of the multilateral body. Geoffrey Okamoto, the IMF’s first deputy managing director, considered the global situation to be “less bad” than initially projected, particularly in advanced economies.
“I think Latin America is a good example of a partial and uneven recovery. It is a kind of interesting microcosm from the rest of the world,” he said during a forum organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. Okamoto predicted a “partial recovery” of the region in 2021, although not all countries face the same reality.
Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Mexico “have been greatly affected economically” by the COVID-19 crisis, while others, such as Costa Rica and Uruguay, “have been able to weather this quite well from an economic perspective,” he opined.
The IMF has provided emergency assistance to nearly 80 countries, including 20 countries in Latin America. And he remains willing to support nations that need him. “We are trying to preserve our financial power to contribute to countries where there are likely to be needs not only over the coming months, but for years to come,” Okamoto said.
The new growth projections of the Fund for the Region will be known in the forthcoming Global Economy Outlook (WEO) update, to be published during the IMF and World Bank annual meeting scheduled for October 12-18.