Furthermore, economists agree that, with per capita GDP growth rising by only about 1% a year, it will not make a major dent in poverty and inequality. The imbalances that have built up over the past decade have not disappeared. The region’s current account deficit, which had peaked at an elevated 6% of GDP in 2015, narrowed to 2.6% last year.
However, the IMF expects that it will widen moderately again this year and the next, to around 3% of GDP. Furthermore, this aggregate hides the disparate performances across countries.