Meanwhile, playing a dark counterpoint to the Pan-American Games, protests against the high cost of living and the consequences of the IMF deal have continued to spread. They have been most intense in Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata and Santiago, where clashes with police have been violent. By the weekend, three protesters and one policeman had been shot dead.
COSTA RICA | Highest growth since 1999. The Costa Rican economy is now expected to grow by 5.3% this year - two points more than originally predicted. Central bank president Francisco de Paula has underlined that the country has not witnessed this kind of growth since 1999. He predicts 4.3% growth for 2004.
EL SALVADOR | Headed for 2-3% GDP growth. After clocking 1.7% GDP growth in the first half of the year, El Salvador's central bank is now predicting that the rate for the year as a whole is likely to be in the 2-3% range. Crucially for an economy that is almost completely dollarised, exports have been growing healthily (they were up 7.1% year-on-year in the first half, to US$1.56bn) and remittances by expatriates have continued to grow by just under 4% annually (to just over US$1bn in the first half). Not doing so well is the attraction of foreign investment: in January-June only US$67m came in.
GUATEMALA | Expatriate remittances soar. Remittances by Guatemalan expatriates in the first seven months of the year have reached US$1.19bn, or 34% more than in the same period of 2002. If they continue to flow at this rate, by year-end they could reach just over US$2bn, or 29% more than in the whole of last year. The largest expatriate community is in the US, estimated by the International Migrations Organisation at 1.2m.
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