The world has recently seen sluggish growth in the world GDP due to various reasons that experts particularly stressed on US-China trade war, and Brexit. These leave uncertainties in major investors as well as consumers that causes lower product purchase in mid-2019. However, the UK and South America may be hit by weak growth but one of the South American smallest countries, Guyana, is about to experience the fastest economic growth worldwide.
Guyana, a country of nearly 783,000 populace, is expected to witness more than triple times growth in its GDP within five years. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country will see an economy balloon of 86% next year after expanding 4.4% this year, which is 14 times the projected pace of China and driven by Exxon Mobil Corp.’s discovery of oil. The agency also indicated that the oil sector will represent about 40% of the economy within five years.
While Guyana’s US$4 billion annual GDP is about a tenth of the size of Vermont’s, it will expand to about US$15 billion by 2024, IMF noted.
In a statement, Guyana’s Finance Minister, Winston Jordan stated that “The government plans to use some of the money derived from its royalties to build highways to connect coastal towns to the sparsely populated interior, which has gold, diamond and bauxite deposits.”
Economy Outlook for South America
South America’s economy encompasses around 410 million people living in 12 nations and 3 territories, sharing 6 percent of the world’s population. In the year 2016, the region’s four countries – Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, and República Bolivariana de Venezuela – experienced a decline in output. On the other hand, other countries in the region witnessed a slowdown in growth rates. However, Brazil saw this decline in output due to the growing number of unemployment, worsening financial conditions and political issues, resulted in a decline in private domestic consumption and investment.
The region accounts for nearly 10% of the global agricultural product export. 80% of the manufacturing of the South America region falls on Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, while Brazil has the third-largest manufacturing sector in the region.
Accounting for 27.5% of GDP, Brazil’s industries range from automobiles, steel, and petrochemicals to computers, aircraft (Embraer), and consumer durables. Conversely, the service sector and Agriculture contributes 67.0% and 5.5% of the country’s GDP, respectively.
Uruguay, the house of approximately 3.42 million people, is the richest South American country in terms of GDP per capita. The country has a stable economy with a literate workforce and an export-oriented agricultural sector supporting as the pillars of Uruguay’s economy.
