Ahead of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, to be held in hybrid format from April 18 to 24, the Bank has released its semiannual report for Latin America and the Caribbean, titled “Consolidating the Recovery: Seizing Green Growth Opportunities.” https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/37244/9781464818677.pdf
Divided in two parts, the report examines the short- term challenge of strengthening the recovery from the pandemic effects which, according to the Bank, appears “uncertain” due to several adverse factors, emanating from dealing with the pandemic itself and from “changes in the international growth context.”
The Bank recalls the pandemic deepened what already was another decade of low growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, with average rates of growth of around 2 percent. The projection for 2022 and 2023 is that regional growth will return to around 2 percent, amid “increased uncertainties,” such as rising global and domestic inflation, less growth in the advanced economies and China, together with the consequences of the conflict in Eastern Europe.
The second part of the report looks ahead, it describes the “profound challenges” faced by Latin America and the Caribbean from what is called “the force majeure of climate change.” To deal with these challenges, the report proposes the adoption of a “green growth agenda,” including “a mix of incentives, institutions, coordination and key public investments.”
