Public spending reduced region’s fiscal balances

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The region’s fiscal balances for 2012 deteriorated compared to 2011, mainly due to increased public spending.
This according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean’s (Eclac) report on the region’s growth prospects for 2013.
It said in Latin America, primary balances (before interest payments on the public debt) averaged a deficit of 0.3 per cent points of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to a surplus of 0.2 per cent in 2011.