Latin American economies will rebound this year from last year's recession but the risks to that outlook are almost all skewed to the downside, analysts at Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday, citing in particular the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Slower growth would also compromise government efforts to get deficits and debt back on a more sustainable, downward path, just as public pressure to spend in the face of the second wave of the virus grows, they warned.
Shelly Shetty, managing director for Sovereigns at Fitch, said that how the region weathers the second wave, the pace of vaccine distributions, the volume of shots to be rolled out and generally weak public health systems all bear monitoring.
"We don't see many upside risks ... (we see) several downside risks," Shetty said in an online presentation.
Peru will register the strongest growth in the region this year of more than 5%, while Brazil's economy will expand at a little over 3%, capped by an expected tightening of fiscal policy, she said.
The recovery should be supported by 8% growth in China, strong global commodity prices, continued accommodative domestic monetary policy, and favorable base effects, she said.
(Reuters)
The World Health Organization (WHO) plans to approve several Covid-19 vaccines from Western and Chinese manufacturers in the coming weeks and months, an internal document seen by Reuters shows, as it aims for rapid rollouts in poorer countries.
COVAX, a global scheme co-led by the WHO, wants to deliver at least 2 billion COVID-19 doses across the world this year, with at least 1.3 billion going to poorer countries.
But it has so far struggled to secure enough shots due to a shortage of funds, while wealthy nations have booked large volumes of vaccines for themselves.
In the race to deploy shots, regulatory approvals are key to confirming the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, and to boosting output. But some poorer countries rely mostly on WHO authorisations as they have limited regulatory capacity.
The WHO is therefore "expediting" emergency approvals, according to a COVAX internal document, which cites data updated to Jan. 7.
The Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) could be authorised by the WHO in January or February, the document says.
(Reuters)
India reported 13,823 new Covid-19 infections and 16,988 discharges in the last 24 hours. The Covid-19 tally of the country has mounted to 1,05,95,660, which includes 1,97,201 active cases.
So far, 1,02,45,741 patients have been discharged from hospitals across the country. With 162 deaths in the last 24 hours, the country’s death toll stands at 1,52,718.
Health Ministry had reported that more than 4.50 lakh people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 till January 19.