Latin American economies face renewed inflationary pressure and possible delays to interest rate cuts if a strong El Niño weather pattern disrupts food production, electricity generation and infrastructure this year, Swiss bank UBS said in a note.
The war between the US, Israel and Iran will continue to weigh on Latin American and Caribbean economies for the rest of 2026, even if last month's fragile ceasefire holds, the UN's regional economic body has warned.
The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast for global economic growth in 2026 to 3%, citing the fallout from the war in the Middle East, while projecting that Latin America and the Caribbean would grow 2.4% this year and 2.7% in 2027.
The World Bank has trimmed its growth forecasts for Latin America and the Caribbean for both 2026 and 2027, blaming the inflationary and monetary fallout from the Middle East conflict.
Latin America and the Caribbean's political systems are experiencing a gradual institutional decay that rarely manifests as outright democratic collapse but instead hollows out governance from within, the UNDP has warned in a new report.
ECLAC trims Latin America's 2026 growth forecast to 2.2%, warning that soaring oil prices, tighter credit and slowing global trade are locking the region into a fourth consecutive year of sluggish expansion.
The Middle East conflict has landed on Latin America at an awkward moment. After two years of gradual progress bringing inflation under control, the region's central banks now face the prospect of that effort being undone by an external conflict.
From Vaca Muerta to the Orinoco, Latin America is sitting on the world's most coveted untapped crude. The Iran war may finally force it to act.