Brazil & Southern Cone - March 2009 (ISSN 1741-4431)

According to the central bank, imports fell 33% year-on-year in January, amid the slide in global oil prices. Uruguay imports all the oil and fuel it consumes.  Excluding oil, the import bill was down 15% year-on-year. The January figures show a massive turnaround from the trend in 2008.

Over 2008 as a whole, imports rose strongly, especially capital goods, which grew 50% overall. In November and December, there was a small but significant fall in the cost of purchases of intermediate goods, the largest import category, which are mostly used by industry to produce consumer goods. In both months, the fall in this category was between 2% and 4% year-on-year. Even so, in December 2008, the total import bill was still up 11% annually. 

The January figure suggests plummeting business and consumer confidence. Imports of consumer goods were down 15.6% year-on-year in the month. The main fall was in big ticket items such as cars and washing machines, dishwashers and other white goods.  Equally sobering was a 9% fall in imports of food and drink. This suggests that the middle-class is cutting back on spending.