Guatemala: Economic activity edges down in September but stays robust

Data from Banguat’s monthly index of economic activity (IMAE, Índice Mensual de la Actividad Económica) showed that economic activity increased 3.0% in September over the same month a year ago. The result, which is down from the previous month’s 3.2% expansion, was driven by a pick-up in the transportation, storage and communications; wholesale and retail; agricultural; and manufacturing subsectors.

Lastly, annual average growth in economic activity was stable at the previous month’s 2.8% in September.

Banguat expects growth of between 3.1%–4.1% in 2019. FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists see growth of 3.2% in 2019, which is unchanged from last month’s forecast. For 2020, our panelists predict growth to accelerate to 3.4%.