WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (NNN-TELESUR) — The COVID-19 pandemic has caused over 16 million people to fall into poverty in Latin America, the International Monetary Fund reported.
“The crisis has had a disproportionate impact on employment, with losses concentrated mostly on women, youth, and informal and lower-skilled workers, and social indicators are showing this,” the director of the IMF Western Hemisphere Department Alejandro Werner explained.
The official stressed that employment remains below pre-crisis levels as inequality has remarkably increased.
“We forecast that the region will go back to its pre-pandemic levels of output only in 2023, and GDP per capita in 2025, later than other parts of the world,” Werner added.
Like other international organizations such as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the International Monetary Fund urges the governments to prioritize health services and protect the most vulnerable sectors.
“Given all the uncertainties, countries’ priority should be to ensure adequate resources for health care systems, including vaccination and testing. And second, continue supporting vulnerable sectors most affected by the pandemic and cementing the uncertain recovery. Removing too much fiscal support too early would jeopardize these goals,” the official remarked. — NNN-TELESUR
