Exactly 13 months after President Tabaré Vázquez took office for a second time, Uruguay’s central bank (BCU) announced that 13 years of uninterrupted high economic growth had come to an end. The domestic economy grew by a mere 1% in 2015 on the previous year, and contracted by 0.1% year-on-year in the final quarter. This announcement came fast on the heels of inflation bursting into double digits for the first time since the ruling left-wing Frente Amplio (FA) coalition came to power under Vázquez in 2005. There is no prospect of an economic upturn in 2016; Vázquez’s approval rating has already reached its lowest level at any stage during his first or second terms; and the political opposition is looking to capitalise on his discomfiture.End of preview - This article contains approximately 697 words.
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