By Nelson A. King
The co-chairs of the US House
of Representatives on Wednesday
observed the 12th anniversary of
the catastrophic 7.0 magnitude
earthquake that struck Haiti on
Jan. 12, 2010.
The co-chairs are Representatives
Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Andy
Levin (MI-09), Val Demings (FL-10)
and Ayanna Pressley (MA-07).
“Today, we join the Haitian people
and supporters from around the
world in remembering over 230,000
lives lost, 300,000 injured, 1.5 million
left homeless and countless
lives forever changed on Jan. 12,
2010,” they said in a joint statement.
“Our prayers remain with the victims
and the survivors who continue
to persevere in the aftermath.
“On this somber anniversary, we
also recognize the immense challenges
that Haiti has experienced
over the last year,” they added.
“Even as the impacts of the 2010
earthquake continue to be felt, the
Haitian people have endured political
instability and gang violence,
the assassination of President Jovenel
Moïse and an additional 7.2
magnitude earthquake that struck
last August.
“Yet, the Haitian people remain
resilient, and we have seen Haitian
civil society organizations continue
to rise to face these challenges and
work together to pursue a Haitianled
transition to democracy, security,
stability, peace and prosperity,”
they continued. “As co-chairs of the
House Haiti Caucus, we mourn with
the Haitian people, and recommit
ourselves to lifting up their voices
and leadership in the reformation
of a stronger and more resilient
democracy. Today and every day, we
stand with the people of Haiti.”
Caribbean L 22 ife, JANUARY 14-20, 2022
By Nelson A. King
The United Nations’ Economic Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean
(ECLAC) predicted on Wednesday
that the region will see its pace of growth
decelerate in 2022 to 2.1 percent, after
reaching 6.2 percent on average last year.
The new projections were unveiled during
a virtual press conference held from
Mexico City by ECLAC’s Executive Secretary,
Alicia Bárcena.
ECLAC’s annual report, “Preliminary
Overview of the Economies of Latin America
and the Caribbean 2021”, says that this
slowdown takes place “in a context of significant
asymmetries between developed,
emerging and developing countries, with
regard to the capacity to implement fiscal,
social, monetary, and health and vaccination
policies for a sustainable recovery
from the crisis unleashed by the COVID-
19 pandemic.”
The document indicates that the region
is facing “a very complex 2022: uncertainty
regarding the pandemic’s ongoing
evolution, a sharp deceleration in growth,
continued low investment and productivity
and a slow recovery in employment,
the persistence of the social effects
prompted by the crisis, reduced fiscal
space, increased inflationary pressures
and financial imbalances.”
“The expected slowdown in the region
in 2022, combined with the problems of
low investment and productivity, poverty
and inequality, calls for growth and
employment creation to be central elements
of public policymaking while at the
same time addressing inflationary pressures,”
Bárcena said.
According to ECLAC, the 2.1 percent
average growth foreseen for this year
“reflects great heterogeneity” among
countries and subregions.
The report says the Caribbean will
grow 6.1 percent, excluding Guyana; Central
America will grow 4.5 percent, while
South America will expand by 1.4 percent.
In 2021, the report says the region
experienced “higher-than-expected
growth”, averaging 6.2 percent “due to
the low baseline established in 2020, to
greater mobility and to a favorable external
context.”
According to the Preliminary Overview
2021, estimates point to advanced
economies growing by 4.2 percent in
2022, “being the only ones to resume the
growth trajectory foreseen before the pandemic
over the course of this year.”
Emerging economies, meanwhile, are
seen growing 5.1 percent in 2022, but
the report says they will only resume the
growth trajectory forecast before the pandemic
in 2025.
In 2021, the report says 11 countries in
Latin America and the Caribbean managed
to regain the gross domestic product
(GDP) levels seen prior to the crisis.
Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena. ECLAC
In 2022, the report says another three
countries will join them, accounting for a
total of 14 countries of the 33 that make
up the region.
“It is of central importance that the
combination of monetary and fiscal policies
prioritizes growth stimulation, as well
as inflation containment,” the report says.
“This entails the need for coordinated fiscal
and monetary policies and the use of
all available instruments to adequately
prioritize the challenges of growth with
monetary-financial stability.”
In terms of the labor market, the report
says employment recovered at a slower
pace than economic activity last year.
It says 30 percent of the jobs lost in
2020 had not been recuperated by 2021.
Furthermore, the report says the inequality
between men and women was
“accentuated, reflecting the larger care
burden on women and less dynamism in
the sectors in which female employment
is concentrated, such as services.”
In 2022, ECLAC projects an 11.5 percent
unemployment rate for women –
slightly below the 11.8 percent recorded in
2021, “but still well above the 9.5 percent
existing before the pandemic in 2019.”
Unemployment among men is forecast
at 8.0 percent this year, “nearly identical
to that of 2021 (8.1 percent) and still far
above the 6.8 percent seen in 2019,” the
report says.
The report also addresses one of the
most worrisome economic issues today at
a regional and global level: the rise in the
price of products and services.
In 2021, the report says inflationary
pressures were observed in the majority of
regional countries, led by price increases
in food and energy.
The report says inflation reached 7.1
percent on average by November, excluding
Argentina, Haiti, Suriname and Venezuela.
“These pressures are expected to continue
in 2022,” the report says, adding
that countries’ central banks anticipate
that inflation levels will remain above the
target range established, although they
will tend to converge towards the end of
2022 or early 2023.
“Once again, the price of energy and
food in international markets, along with
the evolution of the exchange rate, will
be critical to determining future price
dynamics,” the report says.
It underscored that that inflation is “a
multicausal phenomenon, which means
that monetary authorities should continue
utilizing the full range of instruments
(monetary, foreign exchange and
macroprudential) that they have, beyond
the interest rate, to confront inflationary
pressures without hindering the impetus
for recuperating growth and employment
and attaining sustainable, inclusive and
more equal growth.”
In addition, the document emphasizes
that it is “crucial to increase tax collection
levels and to improve the tax structure to
give fiscal sustainability to a growing trajectory
of expenditure demands.
Democratic Congresswoman,
Yvette D. Clarke. Offi ce of
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke
Slowdown in Caribbean
growth predicted in 2022
Haiti Caucus
observes
earthquake
anniversary