Economics
Chile’s Year of Record Growth Reveals Early Signs of Slowdown
- GDP expanded 1.8% in fourth quarter, versus 2.2% estimate
- Political uncertainty and inflation are headwinds to growth
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Chile’s economic growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter, even as the Latin American country notched up its best year of expansion on record amid billions of dollars in emergency fiscal stimulus and early pension withdrawals.
Gross domestic product grew 11.7%, the most in central bank records going back to 1961, according to data released on Friday. Still, the economy expanded by 1.8% in the fourth quarter from the previous three months, below the 2.2% median estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey and less than half the 4.5% pace of the third quarter.