RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Despite the regional context, Paraguay’s business environment improved by 7.2 points over the previous report; with a score of 133.3 it ranks above pre-pandemic levels and with the best average of the 4 quarters in the whole region, with a score of 121 points.
Ecuador, which leads the list with the largest increase, rose 34.7 points to 117.5 in the 4th quarter compared to the previous quarter. This is the largest rise among the 10 Latin American countries analyzed by the institution, of which only half obtained positive results.
In addition to Ecuador, Uruguay (+33.2 points), Colombia (+33.2), Bolivia (+13.4) and Paraguay (+7.2) also improved their business environment. “These 5 countries have an ECI in what is considered the ‘favorable zone’; that is, above 100 points, except Bolivia, with an average score now at 87.3 points.” The ECI is obtained from balancing the Current Situation Indicators (PSI) and Expectations Indicators (EI).
GOOD CURRENT PERFORMANCE
Paraguay, along with Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia and Bolivia advanced as a result of the positive performance obtained when analyzing their current situation, with variations above 40 points. However, this group of countries recorded worse expectations, with the exception of Colombia.
Overall, the business environment in Latin America plummeted from 101.4 points to 80.6 between the 3rd and 4th quarters of the year, interrupting the rebound observed since the 2nd quarter of 2020.
Among the reasons for this drop are the lack of confidence in economic policy (67%), political instability (37%) and corruption (25%), according to the Getulio Vargas Foundation.