Xinhua quoted Mr Luis Alberto Moreno president of Inter American Development Bank as saying that the world economic crisis is affecting Latin American and Caribbean countries, but he could not agree to the protectionism.
Mr Moreno said that "The crisis is reducing the credit availability in the emerging countries and at the same time it is reducing the demand of raw materials, which are the main exports sources of Latin American and Caribbean countries. We must avoid the protectionism as it can worsen the situation and destroy the commercial ties."
He said that in the last 5 years, Latin American and Caribbean countries have made an excellent work improving the solidity of their economies and the life quality of millions of people.
He added that "Since 2003, some 48 million people have surpassed the poverty line. We need to assure the success against the poverty. If the crisis lasts one year, the economic growth would fall to 1.1% forecast by the International monetary Found, which may cause 2.8 million people back to poverty in Latin America and Caribbean."
Mr Moreno said that the governments of the region should use money wisely to weather the crisis, proposing investments in social security networks and infrastructure. He added that the IDB's loans and operations have not been seriously affected by the crisis. However, its liquid investment portfolio suffered losses in the last year.
(Sourced from www.xinhuanet.com)
