Central Bank may decrease growth forecast by 0.5%

SANTIAGO.- Amid a slump in internal activity and international market uncertainty, several economists have predicted that the Central Bank could lower its 2008 growth forecast by half of a percentage point from a previous range of between 4.5 and 5.5%.

The Monthly Economic Report (IPOM) for January had indicated a growth forecast of between 4.5 and 5.5% for 2008 with a downside risk, which according to some economists, has indeed been observed. 

The head of the Bank Association (ABIF), Alejandro Alarcón, says risks that could affect production have had a slightly downward tendency, such as the impact of the crisis in the United States on the world economy, and possibly on the Chilean economy, as well as the energy shortage, which is becoming more serious as June approaches.

Just as the majority of organizations that issue growth estimates, Alarcón believes that the growth forecast will be reduced by 0.5%, placing it at a range of between 4 and 5%.