Santiago (Chile) (AFP) – Chile’s GDP beat expectations for 2025 thanks to a trade and investment boost which helped offset a weaker mining sector, the country’s central bank said Wednesday. The economy grew 2.5 percent in what was the final year of leftist president Gabriel Boric’s tenure, just outstripping a bank forecast of 2.3 percent.
Boric gave way last week to far-right successor Jose Antonio Kast, who has pledged to install an “emergency” government that will take a hard line on crime and illegal migration and also look to shore up the economy. Kast has set himself an annual growth target of four percent for his period in office.
Deputy Finance Minister Juan Pablo Rodriguez said last year’s figure was “insufficient to meet the expectations of Chilean families.” The central bank said retail trade, personal services, manufacturing, and business services posted the strongest growth, offsetting a decline in mining.
Copper, of which Chile is the world’s leading producer, accounts for about 10 percent of GDP while the country is also the world’s second-largest producer of lithium behind Australia. Both metals are key for the manufacture of electric cars and electronic devices.
Kast’s new finance minister, Jorge Quiroz, announced a clutch of bills would go before parliament in the weeks ahead, including one trimming corporation tax from 27 to 23 percent. Quiroz said the measure is designed to revive economic activity and curb a fiscal deficit which stood at 3.6 percent last year. He further ordered a three percent spending cut across all government ministries.
© 2024 AFP
