Santiago de Chile (awp/afp) – The GDP growth forecast for Latin America and the Caribbean for 2023 was raised to +1.7% on Tuesday from 1.2% in April, the agency said on Tuesday. The UN has warned of the impact of climate change on regional economies.

This revision is the result of better performances of the two heavyweights of the regional economy, Brazil and Mexico, explained the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

In Brazil, “a very positive impact was the increase in the harvest, which was very rich in the first quarter. In the second quarter, growth was expected to be 0.2%, and the excellent news is that it was 0.9%,” Daniel Titelman, said at a press conference director of ECLAC’s Economic Development Division.

Mexico “is also performing better than expected, in line with growth in the United States and all foreign investment,” he added.

However, mitigates ECLAC, most Latin American economies will continue to be affected by the weak growth of the world economy.

ECLAC also foresees “less dynamism in job creation as well as a decline in investment” and warns of the impact of climate change on Latin American economies.

“Low growth in Latin America and the Caribbean could be exacerbated by the negative effects of worsening climate shocks if (necessary) investments in adaptation and mitigation are not made,” ECLAC Executive Secretary José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs said.

Among major economies, Brazil will experience growth of +2.5% and Mexico +2.9% in 2023. According to ECLAC, Argentina, the third regional economy, will see a decrease of -3% of its GDP, Chile -0.3%.

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