St Kitts and Nevis not among leaders in regional economic growth in 2019 and 2020, says ECLAC

St Kitts and Nevis is not mentioned among the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean that will lead economic growth for 2020, according to ECLAC – the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

In its projections for 2020, ECLAC indicated that Caribbean nations will continue leading regional growth (with a subregional average of 5.6%), led by Guyana (85.6%, due to oil production starting in 2020), Antigua and Barbuda (6.5%), Dominica (4.9%) and the Dominican Republic (4.7%).

On the low end of the spectrum, ECLAC said Venezuela, Nicaragua and Argentina will have more moderate economic contraction rates (with -14%, -1.4% and -1.3%, respectively). Meanwhile, Central America will expand 2.6% and South America 1.2%.

In its preliminary overvue, ECLAC forecasts that in 2019, the country with the greatest expansion will be Dominica (9.0%), followed by Antigua and Barbuda (6.2%), the Dominican Republic (4.8%) and Guyana (4.5%).

In contrast, Venezuela will experience the greatest setback, with a contraction of -25.5%, followed by Nicaragua (-5.3%), Argentina (-3.0%) and Haiti (-0.7%). Central America will grow 2.4%, the Caribbean 1.4% and South America will contract -0.1%.

ECLAC in the December 2019 statement said the Latin America and the Caribbean region exhibited an economic deceleration that is widespread and synchronized among countries and sectors, topping off six consecutive years of low growth.