According to a SELA study
Oil exports boost economic growth
in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2001

CARACAS, 20 December - An increase in oil exports lifted economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2001, said a study conducted by the Latin American Economic System (SELA).

According to the study "Latin America and the Caribbean: Preliminary economic results in 2001", one of the most important factors favouring regional growth this year was oil trade, which drove an increase in production, particularly in Ecuador, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.

For its part, Chile will end the year with a good economic growth rate thanks to the fresh impetus it gained from its exports and the diversification of its markets. By the close of 2001, Chile seems to have satisfactorily offset the impact of the instability in Argentina.

Total regional production is expected to grow by 0.6 percent but the per capita gross domestic product is estimated to suffer a contraction of -0.7%, according to the preliminary projections made by SELA, an organization which groups 28 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The document also points out that the negative net transfer of resources, which has increased since 1999, is proof that the region has not fully recovered from the effects of the financial crisis that crippled southeast Asia in 1997.

At present, Latin America will have to redouble its efforts in order to reach higher levels of economic growth. This turns out to be a greater challenge if we take into account the economic contraction in Japan, the slowdown in the United States and the stagnation in Europe, the report says.

Strengthening regional integration is still one of the most important mechanism to increase production. Over the past ten years, trade within the region has increased by about 20 percent of the region's total exports and subregional integration agreement tend to become more consolidated vis-à-vis the proposal to establish a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), says SELA.

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