Despite criticism, government highlights economic recovery

Although the private sector asserts that the measures taken by the government do not allow to achieve a complete economic revitalization, the Minister of Economy and Public Finance, Marcelo Montenegro, confirmed yesterday that Bolivia will be among the ten Latin American countries with the highest growth rate.

“We will be among the 10 countries or the 10 most developed economies in Latin America, so it’s a very important result,” according to ABI, Montenegro said on TV Bolivia.

The authority stated that the public finance program for 2021, which was signed by the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance and the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) in March of this year, expects economic growth of 4.4% for 2021.

Montenegro said: “I think our estimates (…) are strong and have, let’s say, the same performance and logic as other institutions, growth this year and being among the 10 fastest growing economies.”

However, the President of the Bolivian Chamber of Construction (Cabuco), Luis Bustillo, confirmed last week that this sector has not yet reached the stage of basic revitalization, as many companies are still paralyzed and others closed.

“We are going through a very difficult time because there is no economic recovery,” Bustillo said.

Also last week, the President of the Honor Court of the National Federation of Small and Micro Business (Kunamaip), Humberto Valdivieso, confirmed that the sector also failed to revitalize due to the lack of government measures to protect and put national production in place.

According to the commander, the small production units have faced difficulties since the social and political conflicts in November 2019, a situation exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. He added that since economic revitalization measures have not been implemented, mypes are at risk of closure.

However, in recent weeks, the World Bank (WB) has forecast 4.7% economic growth for 2021, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) at 5.1% and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at 5.5%.

Montenegro highlighted that “the trend (estimates) of these international organizations, in addition to those that we have raised, show a growth rate of the national economy for this year and a trend towards growth.”