SANTIAGO: Chile's economic growth eased in the first quarter to expand 4.1 percent year-on-year, its slowest pace of growth in a year and a half, central bank data showed on Monday.
The mining and services sectors helped lift activity in the first quarter, while drops in fishing, restaurant and hotels, agriculture and livestock and industry weighed, the bank said.
Gross domestic product grew 0.5 percent in the first quarter from the last quarter of 2012, compared with a 1.9 percent expansion in the fourth quarter from the third quarter of last year.
The central bank left its estimate for GDP growth in 2012 unchanged at a 5.6 percent expansion.
Domestic demand, a pillar of growth in the world's No.1 copper producer, expanded 6.8 percent in the first quarter.
Consumption was the main driver of domestic demand and "investment also boosted demand, in particular gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment, and to a lesser degree construction and other works," the bank added.
Finance Minister Felipe Larrain said on Friday that Chile's relatively small, export-dependent economy is in a mild slowdown phase.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.