SANTIAGO: Latin America is facing a larger-than-expected economic contraction of 0.8 percent this year, dragged down by sputtering heavyweights Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela, a UN panel said Tuesday.
The region is taking a hit from greater international financial uncertainty -- caused notably by Britain's vote to leave the European Union -- and a continuing slide in prices for its commodity exports, said the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
The forecast was 0.2 percentage points worse than the previous one, in April.
Latin America's economies had already contracted 0.5 percent last year, a painful reversal for a region that was home to some of the world's best-performing economies during the emerging markets boom of the 2000s.
But it is not all doom and gloom across the region.
While South America's economies are facing a 2.1-percent contraction this year, Central America is on track to grow 3.8 percent and Mexico 2.3 percent, ECLAC forecast.
The biggest loser this year will be Venezuela, whose oil-dependent economy is on track to shrink eight percent, ECLAC forecast.
The outlook is also bleak for the region's largest economy, Brazil, facing a 3.5-percent contraction amid political uncertainty caused by the suspension of president Dilma Rousseff pending the outcome of an impeachment trial.
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