Chile’s trade balance up
Chile’s national economy is contracting at a slower pace than expected, thanks to consumption remaining at high levels, the central bank explained.
Chile’s foreign trade reached $86.149 billion between January and May 2022, according to data from the Undersecretariat for International Economic Relations, which showed a year-on-year increase of 20%, it was reported on Tuesday.
Chilean exports reached $42.94 billion, a 12% growth compared to the same period of 2021, while imports amounted to $43.21 billion, a 30% year-on-year increase annual.
The Undersecretary for International Economic Relations, José Miguel Ahumada, said in a statement that these figures are “good news, since there is a recovery in export growth compared to the previous period”.
Ahumada also called for efforts to export higher value-added products, which tend to have less demand and price volatility than less processed products.
The main Chilean exports were lithium carbonate, salmon, fresh cherries, fertilizers, fresh grapes, molybdenum oxide, sawn wood, poultry meat, avocados, potassium nitrates and planks. wood.
Imports consisted mainly of diesel, chemicals, clothing, metal products, gasoline, mineral coal, automobiles, cardboard and paper, petroleum, and fertilizers.
Meanwhile, Chilean wages have fallen 2.3% over the past 12 months, accumulating a negative change of 1.3% so far this year, according to a report by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). released on Tuesday.
The Nominal Remuneration Index (IR) measures the evolution of remuneration corrected for the monthly variation of the Consumer Price Index. This index measures the purchasing power of wages, essential in a scenario marked by inflation.
In yet another news affecting the Chilean economy and which was also announced on Tuesday, the Central Bank raised the monetary policy interest rate (TPM) by 75 basis points to 9% in response to an inflationary context.
The Central Bank explained in a statement that global inflation continued to rise, showing more widespread and persistent price increases and that central banks around the world continued to raise their benchmark rates, while expectations of global growth deteriorated in the face of deteriorating global financial conditions.
However, the monetary entity pointed out that the local economy was contracting at a slower pace than expected, thanks to consumption remaining at high levels.
(Source: Xinhua)
