Ominous signs from Lat Am current accounts

Balance of payments problems in Venezuela and Argentina have deflected attention away from the fact that current account positions across much of the rest of Latin America have deteriorated significantly over the past year or so. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the region is facing a string of balance of payments crises similar to those seen in the 1980s and 1990s. But it is likely to require a big squeeze on domestic demand (and thus imports), which will constrain growth over the next year or two.