Economic activity grew in Paraguay

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Last January, the Paraguayan Central Bank’s (BCP) Monthly Indicator of Economic Activity (Imaep) registered a growth of 3.5% compared to the same month of 2021.

It was mainly due to the good performance of services, manufacturing, and construction. On the other hand, there was a year-on-year decrease in electricity generation, agriculture, and livestock.

Services included trade, restaurants and hotels, business services, household services, and government services. In addition, transportation, financial intermediation, telecommunications, and information services.

As for manufacturing, the production of oils, mills and bakeries, dairy products, beverages and tobacco, chemical-pharmaceuticals, paper products, wood, non-metallic minerals, and the manufacture of base metals stood out. Unfortunately, there were negative variations in the production of meats, manufacture of metal products, machinery, and equipment.

Construction showed a year-on-year increase due to the demand for the main inputs used by the sector.

Agricultural activity suffered a negative performance due to lower production levels, mainly soybeans, affected by adverse weather conditions.

Livestock also showed a negative year-on-year performance due to the lower level of slaughtering of both pigs and poultry and, to a lesser extent, due to a retraction in egg production.

The decrease in electricity generation from the binational companies persists due to the reduced water flow of the Paraná River.