According to an ECLAC´s report entitled ¨economic Outlook for Latin America 2021: Moving together towards a better recovery¨, prepared jointly by the Development center of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), ECLAC, the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) and the European Commission (EC), it is time for reforms agreed by consensus to challenge the structural development traps that affect the region.

Latin America-Caribbean region is strongly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, while the socioeconomic advances of the most recent decade run the risk of being reversed by the health crisis, the text read.

The recovery strategies should include well-planned reforms to promote universal social protection systems, speed up economies, improve fiscal progress, and to deepen regional integration.

According to this 14th edition, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) showed a historic economic slowdown in 2020. The region’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by around 7%.

Despite a 6% increase in 2021, its GDP per capita is not expected to return to pre-crisis levels through 2023-24.

The impact of present crisis is asymmetric, especially hitting the most vulnerable groups. As a result, poverty and extreme poverty levels have reached their highest in the last 20 and 12 years, respectively.

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