Growth picking up, but 2013 set to be a testing year

Growth in Latin America has accelerated in the final months of this year. We reckon that regional GDP is on course to expand by just over 3% y/y in Q4, up from less than 2.5% y/y in Q3. This should mean that Latin America grows by around 3% this year. But while this would be good by developed world standards, it would be some way below average growth of 4% seen since 2005. What’s more, although the recent pick-up in growth means that Latin America will enter 2013 with a reasonable amount of momentum, next year is likely to be just as challenging as this.