“Reviews are largely due to an important reduction in growth in Mexico,” said the IMF.
This “reflects a weaker activity than expected in the late 2024 and early 2025, as well as the impact of tariffs imposed by the United States, associated uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, and a hardening of financing conditions.”
Now it is expected that the economy of Mexico, strongly intertwined with that of the United States, contracted 0.3% this year from an expansion foreseen above 1.4%, as US tariffs affect exports.
It is estimated that the expansion of Brazil, the largest economy in the region, will decelerate 2.0% from a January 2.2% estimate.
The 5.5% growth forecast for Argentina in 2025 represents an increase with respect to 5% of January. Colombia is expected to grow 2.4%, Chile 2.0%and Peru 2.8%.
For Central America, the estimate is a 3.8% growth this year, slightly slower than the rate of 3.9% in 2024, while it is expected that in the Caribbean the economy will slow 4.2% in 2025 from 12.1% of last year.
The IMF reduced its worldwide economic growth forecast by 2025 from 3.3% to 2.8%, after the rise in tariffs by the United States at its highest level in a century. The fund reduced its growth forecast for most countries.
