The COVID-19 crisis unleashed an unprecedented shock to economic activity worldwide, with Latin America and the Caribbean hit particularly hard. In response, CGD and the Inter-American Development Bank convened two working group of experts, first to examine the implications of the crisis for the region’s financial sector, and then to explore the road to a post-pandemic recovery for businesses and labor markets. The recommendations in the working groups’ final reports reflect the members’ deep expertise, diverse experiences, and varied perspectives.
Healthier Firms for a Stronger Recovery: Policies to Support Business and Jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean
This report focuses on firms and labor markets in Latin America and the Caribbean during the COVID-19 crisis and recovery. Through a balance sheet analysis, it shows how larger firms have navigated the crisis by cutting back on variable costs and investment, depleting their productive capital. It also shows that small and medium-size enterprises suffered more in closures and restrictions on credit access, and the unprecedented impacts on labor markets, where participation rates and particularly women suffered the most. Moreover, labor informality has increased and is now more endemic than ever. The report provides a set of recommendations for policymakers and suggestions for international financial institutions to assist productive firms to invest, support the growth of new firms, and enhance labor market performance.
Read the report here.
Read the blog here.
Working Group Members
Chairs
Andrew Powell, Principal Advisor, Inter-American Development Bank Research Department
Liliana Rojas-Suarez, Director of the Latin America Initiative and Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development
Working Group Members
Maria Cecilia Acevedo, Strategy Officer, IDB Invest
Jorge Alers, Emeritus Latin America and the Caribbean Region Chief Executive Officer, Dentons
Kevin Cowan, Commissioner, Financial Market Commission (CMF), Chile
Arturo J. Galindo, Principal Economist, Inter-American Development Bank Research Department
Marcio Garcia, Professor, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil
Pablo E. Guidotti, Professor, Torcuato Di Tella University, Argentina
Jonathan Hamilton, Partner, White & Case LLP
Ana Fernanda Maiguashca, Head, Private Council for Competitiveness, Colombia
Eric Parrado, Chief Economist and General Manager, Inter-American Development Bank Research Department
Augusto de la Torre, Professor, Columbia University; Former Governor, Central Bank of Ecuador
Alberto Trejos, Professor, INCAE Business School, Costa Rica
Sound Banks for Healthy Economies: Challenges for Policymakers in Latin America and the Caribbean in Times of Coronavirus
Latin America and the Caribbean entered the COVID-19 era with relatively strong monetary and financial frameworks, but the pandemic and its consequences tested the region’s financial systems like few events in modern times. This report identifies a set of challenges for the financial sector, and key recommendations to addresses them. Its goal is to support policymakers in the region who face difficult decisions to ensure that banks play a constructive role and support families and firms through and beyond the COVID crisis.
Read the report here.
Read the blog here.
Watch the launch event here.
Working Group Members
Chairs
Andrew Powell, Principal Advisor, Inter-American Development Bank Research Department
Liliana Rojas-Suarez, Director of the Latin America Initiative and Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development
Working Group Members
Gerard Caprio, Jr., William Brough Professor of Economics, Williams College
Kevin Cowan, Commissioner, Financial Market Commission (CMF) of Chile
Arturo J. Galindo, Board Member, Banco de la República, Colombia
Pablo E. Guidotti, Full Professor, Torcuato Di Tella University, Argentina
Patrick Honohan, Honorary Professor of Economics, Trinity College Dublin; former Governor, Central Bank of Ireland
Giulia Lotti, Economist, Inter-American Development Bank
Pascual O’Dogherty, Secretary-General, Association of Supervisors of Banks of the Americas (ASBA)
Eric Parrado, Chief Economist and General Manager, Inter-American Development Bank Research Department
Augusto de la Torre, Adjunct Professor, Columbia University; Former Governor, Central Bank of Ecuador
Philip Turner, Visiting Lecturer, University of Basel; Former Deputy Head of the Monetary and Economic Department of the Bank for International Settlements
Brian Wynter, Former Chairman of the Board of Directors, Central Bank of Jamaica