Growth throughout the region is uneven. According to recent ECLAC numbers, estimates for South America are at 4.6 percent, while in the Caribbean they are at just 0.7 percent. High growth in South America is due in large part to high prices of commodities, especially in those countries that trade with China.
China's economy is expected to slow this year, which could hurt Latin American exporters. “To be sure, we don’t see a recession coming in Latin America if the European crisis remains contained, but weaker growth is clearly in the cards, not least because confidence and commodity prices have been falling,” Mr. Eyzaguirre wrote in his blog.
The price of commodities, which according to Bloomberg account for more than half of the region’s exports, declined by 7.8 percent last year.
