By 2020, at the nadir of the COVID-19 pandemic, Latin American and Caribbean governments had spent so much on health and transfers to keep people and firms afloat that the average primary balance (the budget balance without interest payments on debt) had soared to -4.8% of GDP. Then a positive thing happened. Rather than lingering in deficit, as it had after the 2009 response … [Read more...] about The Imperatives of Fiscal Health
Alejandro Izquierdo
Alejandro Izquierdo is Deputy Director and Head of the Macro Group at the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). He previously held positions as interim Chief Economist and Manager of the Research Department, Regional Economic Advisor for Mexico and Central America, and Principal Economist across the IDB. Alejandro spearheaded the IDB’s Annual Macroeconomic Report for several years and is currently co-director of the Columbia University-IDB executive program on international financial issues in emerging markets. He has also led IDB’s flagship product, the Development in the Americas, on issues such as credit and public expenditure in Latin America. Before his career at the IDB, Alejandro worked at the World Bank in the Department of Economic Policy, and taught courses on macroeconomics and international finance at several Latin American universities. He has several publications in professional journals and edited volumes. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Maryland, an M.S. from Instituto Torcuato Di Tella, Argentina, and a B.A. in Economics from Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Pension Problems and the Need for Reform in the Wake of COVID-19
As COVID-19 struck, governments across Latin America and the Caribbean imposed lockdowns and other restrictions that led to widespread job losses. There was record unemployment in the hospitality, tourism, and retail sectors. Youth, women, and low-income workers suffered especially, and jobs in the informal sector took a hard hit. The increase in remote work that emerged during … [Read more...] about Pension Problems and the Need for Reform in the Wake of COVID-19
Walking the Monetary Tightrope: Latin America’s Challenge in Lowering Interest Rates
As inflation surged in 2021, central banks in Latin America and the Caribbean acted swiftly and aggressively—well before the developed world—to combat inflation by raising interest rates. With inflation largely tamed, they now face considerable pressure to lower interest rates to foster economic growth and ease the burden of debt servicing. But doing so comes with significant … [Read more...] about Walking the Monetary Tightrope: Latin America’s Challenge in Lowering Interest Rates
A New Report Stresses Reforms to Boost Productivity and Seize Markets in an Uncertain World
Latin American and Caribbean institutions moved forcefully to head off dangers in 2023. Central banks swiftly raised interest rates in the face of inflation, and governments imposed well-considered fiscal policies that brought average primary balances to a level superior to that before the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with strong financial regulation and supervision and resilient … [Read more...] about A New Report Stresses Reforms to Boost Productivity and Seize Markets in an Uncertain World
Fiscal Rules for a Debt-Plagued Region
With a long history of recurrent and costly debt crises, Latin American governments have long sought to find a way to curb the fiscal deficits that stoke the debt problem. Those efforts gathered steam over the course of the 2000s when numerous governments in the region began adopting fiscal rules, which seek to curb politicians' ability to increase spending under political and … [Read more...] about Fiscal Rules for a Debt-Plagued Region