IMF says ME war to deepen economic divide in Latin America, Caribbean

The war in the Middle East is likely to widen economic differences across Latin America and the Caribbean, giving some short-term support to oil exporters while worsening the outlook for tourism-reliant Caribbean economies and energy-importing countries in Central America, the IMF said on Friday. The warning, issued in a blog post, follows the release earlier this week of the global lender’s updated World Economic Outlook, which projected that the Latin America and Caribbean region would grow 2.3 percent in 2026, little changed from 2.4 percent in 2025, before picking up to 2.7 percent in 2027. Brazil, the region’s largest economy, is forecast to grow 1.9 percent this year, while Mexico is expected to expand by 1.6 percent.