Latin American Buffered Against Global Shock, World Bank Says

Latin American countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Chile have created a buffer against a global recession after raising interest rates in the past 15 months, the World Bank said in a report today.

In the worst of cases, those countries “could rely on lower interest rates, flexible exchange rates and strong international reserve positions as a first line of defense,” according to the report on the region’s growth prospects. The region should also “rebuild fiscal buffers, to enhance its capacity to deploy counter-cyclical fiscal policy down the line if needed.”