ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The International Monetary Fund and the Ministry of Finance, Republic of Chile, will hold a high-level conference in Santiago, Chile on December 5 and 6, 2014, to discuss with Latin American and Caribbean counterparts the short- and long-term economic issues impacting the region. The conference will emphasize the importance of macroeconomic stability and well-designed policy frameworks in creating an enabling environment for lessening inequality, against a volatile and uncertain global backdrop. This conference also serves as a milestone moment in the lead-up to the 2015 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Lima, Peru, which are the first to be held in Latin America since the 1967 Annual Meetings in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
As underscored in the IMF's Regional Economic Outlook and elsewhere, Latin America displayed remarkable resilience through the global crisis, thanks to sound macroeconomic policies that rebuilt buffers prior to the crisis. But buffers have been eroded, and the region will face headwinds from less favorable global financial conditions and commodity prices going forward. Managing these risks will be key to sustaining growth and building on social gains to date while narrowing income and social gaps with other regions.
Moreover, sustaining and enhancing growth going forward will require reforms that boost productivity and ensure that growth is more inclusive. Escaping the middle-income trap will require a new model in which growth benefits accrue more evenly. More generally, while macro-social indicators have improved substantially over time, they have trailed peer countries elsewhere. Notably, inequality remains high, per capita income has lagged, and educational attainment is weak notwithstanding relatively strong public expenditures.
