Chile’s economic activity surprises with unchanged trend in August

Imacec, a benchmark indicator of Chilean GDP, showed no change in August compared to the same month in 2021, according to data released Monday by the Central Bank (BCG).

The figure surprised analysts, who had expected a decline of up to 1.5% for the month.

The seasonally adjusted series grew 0.6% from the previous month, compared with -0.7% estimated by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, and no change in the twelve months determined by the performance of services, especially education.

According to a statement from the issuing authority, this result is explained by the “growth in services activity, offset by declines in mining and trade.”

The non-mining imacec rose 1.3% in twelve months, up 0.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous month and after three consecutive months of decline.

Although this figure is better than expected by experts, it shows the increasing slowdown of the Chilean economy.

The country is influenced by local and international events, especially the persistence of high inflation.

All forecasts indicate that the country will experience a recession by 2023.

According to the BCCh’s September Monetary Policy Report, the economy could contract by -0.5% to -1.5% next year.

Andrés Pérez, the chief economist at Itaú, said the economy is still expected to contract in the coming months, reflecting several factors, including “more contractionary macro policies and a more difficult external scenario.”

With information from Bloomberg in linea