Latin America warned against complacency and internal problems

THE SECRETARY GENERAL of the OECD, Angel Gurria, took a different tack to President Ricardo Martinelli at the International Economic Forum of Latin America and the Caribbean, in Paris with a warning to Latin America.

He warned Latin Americans against "complacency" because part of its current dynamism is due to "external factors" and the region lacks a strong and persistent indigenous growth and has serious problems of inequality.

 "Beware complacency!" said Gurria before explaining that in this region do not have a strong indigenous growth and also has "a problem of very vigorous international competition".
 He said that the region should groe its economy 3.5%, this year, and while that means three times more than is being predicted for Erope for the OECD "for
Latin America it is not enough "to absorb the accumulated unemployment and new entrants to the labor market.
 He saidthat Latin America has fifteen years with "a virtual standstill in the levels of competitiveness" and "the region's deeply unequal" with one of the world's greatest social disparities and 167 million poor, which is "a pending task
Another problem noted is that the informality of the economy, causing "lack of links to companies", "dual markets" and "poverty".
That issue was also highlighted also by the President of the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno, who estimated that informality represents between 40 and 50% of gross domestic product (GDP) in Latin America.