Recovery to strengthen over coming year

After a torrid couple of years, the economies of Latin America have turned a corner and we expect growth to strengthen over the rest of 2017 and into 2018. Inflation has fallen in most countries and should remain low, allowing central banks across the region to lower interest rates. At the same time, balance of payments positions have adjusted to an environment of lower global commodity prices. Admittedly, there are still several clouds on the horizon: the fiscal positions of both Brazil and Argentina are a concern, Venezuela’s economic crisis is deepening and potential growth across Latin America more generally is now much lower than it once was. But even so, none of these factors should prevent a cyclical pick-up in regional growth. We expect Latin American GDP to grow by 1.0% this year and 2.5% in 2018 – a five-year high