‘Paraguay set for quick economic recovery after virus’

BOGOTA, Colombia

Paraguay has a high likelihood of bouncing back best once the novel coronavirus is contained, Rebeca Grynspan, head of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), told Radio Nacional del Paraguay on Thursday.

"Although I cannot predict a date, I believe that the economic recovery will be quick for Paraguay. Even though there will be a fall in all Latin American countries in 2021, in some, the recovery will be faster," she said.

In its 2020 World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast last week that the economy of Latin America is likely to contract 5.2%. The IMF said the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic means Latin America and the Caribbean will likely see “no growth” from 2015 to 2025.

While the region will not see growth over a decade, Grynspan said Paraguay is expected to grow more than 3% in 2021, although she said some sectors will continue to be affected and will require support from the government to stabilize.

"There is no doubt that some sectors will be more affected than others and it will be harder for them to bounce back -- for example, informal workers or construction workers. You have to keep in mind that after this, people will only spend on essentials like food and other basic needs," she warned.

In Paraguay, nine people have died from the coronavirus, while there are a total of 213 cases and 67 recoveries confirmed so far.

As of April 23, Latin America has recorded more than 125,000 cases of COVID-19 based on data compiled by Johns Hopkins University of the US.