Spanish – The coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the world’s economies. The Central Bank of Chile reported on Monday that the South American country’s economy plummeted by 12.4% from the same month in 2019, according to Reuters.
“The outcome of the month was impacted by the effects of the health emergency and, in this context, the activities most affected were services and construction and, to a lesser extent, trade and manufacturing.”
So far, Chile has recorded almost 360,000 COVID-19 infections and 9,608 deaths. In June, the country was at the peak of the pandemic, which has resulted in 689,922 deaths worldwide.
The Chilean issuing body estimates that GDP will contract by up to 7.5% this year. International organizations are more optimistic. Recent projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicate that in 2020, there will be a contraction of 4.5 %. Previously, the World Bank had anticipated an annual drop of 3.3%. In 2019, the Chilean economy recorded a cumulative growth of 1.2%.