LatAm Seen Quietly Swelling

After showing resilience during the financial crisis, Moody’s expects GDP in LatAm and the Caribbean to return to growth, although not at the pace seen before the crisis. “Even though LatAm was spared the worst of the economic impact of the crisis, 2009 marked the first overall drop in GDP in many years,” says vice president Gabriel Torres. “2010 will see a return to growth for much of the region, but median growth will be modest even if some countries surprise on the upside,” adds Torres. He expects the region’s GDP to grow less than 3%. Moody’s expects the region to report a contraction around 2% in 2009.