The final report of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) for 2018 places Guyana fifth in the region for economic growth in the hemisphere behind Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Antigua and Barbuda.
On a country level, the report, “The Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2018” says that Dominica is leading regional growth, with a nine per cent expansion, followed by the Dominican Republic (5.7 per cent), Panama (5.6 per cent), Antigua and Barbuda (4.7 per cent) and Guyana (4.6 per cent).
Worryingly, the Report points to further misery for an already beleaguered Venezuelan economy and says it will suffer a further contraction of around minus ten per cent, a blow that will further escalate the country’s out-of-control debt crisis and precipitate further migration from the Bolivarian Republic into neighbouring countries.