SANTIAGO (Reuters) – The economies of Latin America and the Caribbean will contract by a record 5.3% in 2020 as the impacts of coronavirus ravage the region, unleashing the worst social and economic crisis in decades, according to a United Nations agency report on Tuesday.
The greatest impact of the crisis will fall on South America, due to the regions high dependence on exports to China and plummeting commodity prices, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said in the report.
Mexico will also be especially hard hit, with a contraction of 6.5% this year, the agency said.
(Reporting by Natalia Ramos, writing by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
