The Chilean economy fell 0.6 percent in the first quarter, compared to the same period of the previous year, due to the lower performance of trade and agricultural and forestry activities, the Central Bank informed yesterday.
According to the National Accounts Report published this Thursday, economic activities had mixed results in the period analyzed, however, the economy’s contraction was lower than expected (0.9 percent).
“Trade and the agriculture-livestock and forestry sector were the ones that presented the highest downward incidence,” the document mentioned.
Meanwhile, it added, “personal services were the main contributors to the increase, partially offsetting the effect above.
The report showed that domestic demand fell by 8 percent during the months studied, given lower investment and household consumption.
As for investment was mainly affected by a lower accumulation of inventories, which reached a 12-month accumulated ratio of 0.6 percent of gross domestic product.
Likewise, gross fixed capital formation fell 2.1 percent due to investment in machinery and equipment.
There was a 6.7 percent drop on the consumption side, with a decline in spending on non-durable goods.
Exports increased by 2.4 percent due to increased shipments, mainly of services, which offset lower shipments of goods such as copper and industrial products.
On the other hand, imports decreased by 17.4 percent, with a fall in imports of machinery, equipment, clothing, and fuels.
The text also stated that the seasonally adjusted figures showed an acceleration of 0.8 percent in economic activity with respect to the fourth quarter of the previous year.
This growth in gross domestic product was supported by transportation services, restaurants and hotels, and by the manufacturing industry.
From an expenditure perspective, the contraction in domestic demand was accompanied by an increase in net exports, which boosted output in seasonally adjusted terms.
The Central Bank also issued the Chilean Balance of Payments Report this day, which indicated a national current account surplus of US$ 752 million during the first quarter.
With this, the accumulated deficit for the year stood at 6.9 percent of gross domestic product.
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