Economic Trends & Outlook
Central American Bank for Economic Integration – Office of the Chief Economist 1
Economic Trends & Outlook
Central America and Dominican Republic
April 2010
Office of the Chief Economist
Economic Trends & Outlook
Central American Bank for Economic Integration – Office of the Chief Economist 1
Table of Contents
I.
International Context
2
II. Regional Performance
6
Economic Growth
6
Foreign Trade and Financial Flows
7
Inflationary Trend
8
Public Finance
8
Banking Sector
9
III. Performance by Country
11
Guatemala
11
El Salvador
13
Honduras
14
Nicaragua
15
Costa Rica
17
Panama
19
Dominican Republic
20
Economic Trends & Outlook
Central American Bank for Economic Integration – Office of the Chief Economist 2
I.
International Context
Due to the most profound recession registered in
recent history since the Great Depression, the
world economy reflected a significant deceleration
in 2009. The crisis, which developed in the
financial markets of the developed economies,
expanded to the rest of the countries through
commercial and financial channels as a result of
the liquidity restriction, credit tightness, and a
lower aggregate demand.
In this scenario, monetary authorities and
governments1
concentrated
their efforts
in
implementing monetary and fiscal stimuli, which
contributed to lessen and surpass the impact of
the crisis. In addition, the contingency measures
displayed by international agencies contributed in
the reduction of uncertainty and strengthened
confidence worldwide. However,
signs of
stabilization were not observed until the second
half of 2009