Tarun GeorgeSANTIAGO -(Dow Jones)- Gross domestic product in Latin America and the Caribbean likely will grow an upwardly revised 6% on the year in 2010, the U.N.’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said Monday.
The commission known as Eclac, headquartered in Santiago, also increased its GDP growth outlook for next year to a 4.2% on-year gain.
In a report published in July, Eclac expected regional GDP to grow 5.2% in 2010 and 3.8% in 2011, following 1.9% contraction in 2009.
The more-optimistic outlook for the region is the result of a consolidation of an economic recovery due to countercyclical measures and expansive monetary policy.
The countercyclical measures implemented by most of the governments in the region have permitted a rapid recovery to levels that are in general higher than they were higher prior to the crisis, Eclac in its Preliminary Overview of 2010 and Outlook for 2011.
The 6% gain expected for this year is the highest annual gain since 2004, the commission said.
Inflation in the region, meanwhile, will be 6.2% this year, compared with 4.7% in 2009, while posting a combined current account deficit of 1.1% of GDP.
The unemployment rate in the region likely will fall to 7.6% from 8.2% last year, the U.N. body said.
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