Weekly Report - 14 March 2019 (WR-19-10)

PARAGUAY | IMF revision. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released its concluding statement from the Article IV mission visit to Paraguay, in which it has revised its 2019 GDP growth forecast for the country down to 3.5%, from the 4.2% predicted in October 2018. The IMF cites a reduced soybean harvest due to a drought in the early planting season as negatively affecting domestic economic growth. The statement adds that a pickup in activity in tourism and cross-border trade, which slowed after the guaraní appreciated against the Argentine peso and the Brazilian real last year, should help to largely offset this, although Paraguay’s economy will remain vulnerable to any developments in neighbouring countries.