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Santiago, Oct 3 (IANS/EFE) The economy of Latin America and the Caribbean will grow 3.2 percent this year, less than the 3.7 percent projected in June, a UN panel said in a report released here Tuesday. The region enjoyed economic growth of 4.3 percent last year. Weaker growth in Brazil - the region's economic giant - and Argentina is a major factor behind the new estimate, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, or ECLAC, said. At the same time, the Santiago-based ECLAC expects Brazil and Argentina to rebound in 2013 and power a regional growth rate of 4 percent. "The weakness of the world economy, caused principally by the difficulties confronting Europe, the United States and China, has had a bearing" on Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC said. ECLAC forecasts Panama to be the region's fastest-growing economy this year, with a 9.5 percent increase in GDP, followed by Haiti, 6 percent; and Peru, 5.9 percent. Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Venezuela are projected to expand by 5 percent, while Mexico, the region's No. 2 economy, is expected to grow 4 percent. The main engine of growth in Latin America and the Caribbean is consumer spending, according to ECLAC, which pointed to the slide in global demand for raw materials as the biggest threat to the region's export prospects. Most Latin American and Caribbean countries are in a position to implement counter-cyclical stimulus policies if needed, ECLAC said. --IANS/EFE rd
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