At least 12 million unemployed will leave the economic crisis of COVID-19 in the region, announces ECLAC

In Ecuador a fall of 6.5% of the Gross Domestic Product is expected

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) announced that an increase of 3.4% in unemployment is estimated in the region, so it is expected that 11 million, 571 thousand, 440 people will be unemployed in 2020 .

This was announced by the ECLAC executive secretary, Alicia Bárcena, at a press conference, in which she detailed the impact that Latin America and the Caribbean would suffer due to the health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Regarding the unemployment rate in the region, Bárcena explained that this percentage of more than 3% adds to the current rate in the region, which is 8.1%, reaching a total of 11.5%.

“This is calculated with the current elasticity of employment with respect to GDP, which is more or less 0.6%. We do not know if this drop can be even greater, “she stressed.

In addition, in Latin America and the Caribbean a fall in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 5.3% is estimated in this 2020. “Virtually all economies are in negative numbers, except the Dominican Republic, which has growth at zero,” said Bárcena.

In relation to the valuation of the GDP for this 2020, in Ecuador a fall of 6.5% is expected, like Argentina; while in Venezuela a drop of 18.0% is estimated; Brazil registers a reduction of 5.2%; Chile -4.0%; Bolivia -3.0%; Colombia -2.6%; in Uruguay and Peru a variation of -4.0% and Paraguay -1.5% are expected.

In this context, the official explained that several macroeconomic and fiscal problems have been dragging down in the region before the health crisis, such as high levels of public debt; a committed monetary policy space after 2008; vulnerability of companies in the public sectors; high levels of non-financial corporate sector debt and insufficient tax collection, with high levels of evasion.

Source: ECLAC

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