Slow Latin America Growth Won’t Meet Social Demand, IDB Says

Economic growth in Latin America is slowing to a pace that is insufficient to meet social demands for better public services from its new middle class, the Inter-American Development Bank said.

The region will grow from 3 percent to 3.5 percent annually over the next years, compared to an average 4.9 percent in the five years prior to the 2008 financial crisis, the IDB said in a report distributed yesterday at its annual meeting in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil. The region has become more vulnerable to external shocks because governments increased spending and companies took on more foreign debt, the bank said.