The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has a moderately optimistic outlook on economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2015, the bank's latest forecast shows. According to a report published by the IDB at the beginning of 2015, the region's GDP is expected to expand by 2.2% in 2015, nearly double the growth recorded in 2014.

In 2014, the region grew by only 1.3%, which was its lowest figure since the global financial crisis. The deceleration of growth in Latin America can be attributed, according to the IDB, to falling commodity prices, bleak global growth and limited room for fiscal manoeuvring.

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The IDB's forecast is in line with figures published by the World Bank, which predict the region will grow at an average of 2.6% between 2015 and 2017. “The past 15 years may... turn out to have been a double tailwind era – a booming commodity market and a rapidly growing export demand,” said the authors of the World Bank regional economic outlook. “With this era fading, economies near or at full employment, and domestic credit growth slowing, the [Latin America and the Caribbean] must sustain long-term growth through enhanced productivity growth.”

Meanwhile, Luis Albert Moreno, the IDB president, said in his year-end report to the Board of Executive Directors that countries in Latin American and the Caribbean must prioritise reforms so as to ensure sustainable and inclusive of economical gains. “Now, more than ever, the answer lies in internal sources of growth, which brings us up against a huge challenge: increasing productivity," said Mr Moreno "This factor explains why the region continues to trail behind others in the world."

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