Editorial from El Diario, picture from the internet:
The weakening of the world economy will have serious repercussions in Third World countries, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. According to studies of the International Monetary Fund, the growth of the world economy will be low and this will determine that poor countries especially must assume positions that allow them to get out of critical situations, since growth, if any, will not exceed 3.5 %, rate that is high; but the averages give this figure that could rise if it is possible to achieve somewhat bouncy situations that exceed the extremes.
A summary of the IMF study indicates: “The international body recommends taking measures to face a possible recession, and that the hardening of global financing conditions will affect countries with large current account deficits or that depend to a large extent on the flows of capitals, including Argentina, Bolivia and several countries of the Caribbean.
“According to the forecasts”, … This year there will be a rebound of regional growth with a rate of 1.7% supported mainly by private consumption. It is expected that investments will increase, but the slowdown in world trade will limit export growth. Forecasts indicate that, for example, in Brazil there will be an expansion of 2.2% on the assumption that fiscal reforms are applied quickly, and that the recovery of consumption and investment will compensate with a certain margin the cuts in public spending”.
The problems for the region – seen in “roughly” – are worrisome; but to a greater degree for the poorest countries, such as the Bolivian case, despite the fact that the economic authorities point out that “there is no reason to believe that our economy will weaken”; however, the reality lived on a daily basis shows that there is a need to worry about what might happen, especially if measures are not adopted to alleviate difficult situations, especially if we continue to be a single-producer country or dependent on a few raw materials we export.
In any case, it will be necessary to adopt restrictive policies on public spending, as well as behaviors that encourage savings and lower spending; that, especially at the level of the authorities, austerity policies be acquired, avoiding wasteful and unnecessary expenses, because what has been done in the years of financial boom has been the most counterproductive, when the excessive income should have been destined to the effective growth of international reserves, which today are in almost permanent decline. It is, then, the government that, jointly with the private business, has to adopt measures that allow us to overcome the deceleration process that we can not avoid, but that, with discipline, restraint and prudence, it is possible to alleviate even with many sacrifices.
![Bolivia will face an economic slowdown [asking to create a silk purse from a pig's ear, I mean the incapable masista government!]](https://bolivianthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/screen-shot-2017-12-31-at-9-54-58-am.png?resize=200%2C200)
