Peru has the second best macroeconomic performance index in South America and ranks sixth among 24 nations in Latin America and the Caribbean according to the same index, Lima Chamber of Commerce (CCL) informed.
The Andean nation is among the first positions in the ranking, ahead of all the other South American countries except Paraguay, which has ranked first for three consecutive years thanks to its reduced fiscal (1.5% of GDP) and current account (2%of GDP) deficits.
The countries that are best placed are those of Central America and the Caribbean, including Dominican Republic (5.1), Guatemala (6.6) and El Salvador (8.8).
On the contrary, the worst country in Latin America and the Caribbean is Venezuela, which went from a 90 index in 2014 to a 241.4 index this year. This is due to an inflation rate of 190%, a fiscal deficit of 24.4% of GDP, and the fall of GDP by 10%. It is followed by Argentina (32.4), Surinam (31.1) and Brazil (30.7).
“As for South American economies, Argentina’s major problems are inflation (19.3%) lower growth (0.4%); while Brazil’s are economic recession (-3%), high fiscal deficit (7.7% of GDP) and inflation (9.3%),” said Cesar Peñaranda, Executive Director at CCL Institute of Economics and Business Development (IEDEP).
He also affirmed Peru has dropped some places in the said index — which measures the national economic performance in relation with other countries — since it went from 11.1 in 2014 to 12.5 in 2015.
This is mainly due to a higher fiscal deficit (by 1.9% of GDP), according to figures issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF),”he added.
(END) NDP/RES/RMB/MVB
Published: 11/3/2015