The Chilean economy grew 3.5% in April compared to the same month in 2023thanks in large part to the outstanding performance of the services sector, the Central Bank of the South American country reported this Monday.
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The rise in the Monthly Indicator of Economic Activity (Imacec), which is considered an advance estimate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is within the margins estimated by the market, considering that the month had three more business days than in 2023experts explained.
According to the issuing entity, “All activities contributed to the annual growth of Imacec, highlighting the performance of services” with an increase of 0.2% compared to the previous month. The production of goods, for its part, increased 4.8% in annual terms, highlighting the growth of electricity generation and food production in industry.
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Compared to the previous month, The production of goods presented a contraction of 0.5%, explained by the performance of mining, which fell 2.4%. Commercial activity, meanwhile, showed a year-on-year increase of 6.4%, highlighting wholesale sales, particularly of food, household goods and clothing. Compared to the previous month, the sector marked a contraction of 1.4%.
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Chile recovered faster than expected after the pandemic, with a historic GDP increase of 11.7% in 2021, but in 2022 it began to slow down and closed with a growth of 2.4%.
(Also read: Chile’s industrial production grew 0.7%, driven by mining)
With inflation contained, which closed 2023 at 3.9%, Chile’s great challenge for this year is to return to the path of growth, after avoiding contraction and closing 2023 with an increase of 0.2%.
For now, heThe projections of the Central Bank and different international organizations predict that the Chilean economy will grow again around 2% in 2024.
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At the beginning of the month, the Government created the so-called “Economic Growth Cabinet”, made up of several ministers and whose objective is to promote and accelerate different investment projects, both public as private and encourage key sectors such as mining and construction.
