Guatemala: Economic activity growth accelerates in May

Data from Banguat’s monthly index of economic activity (IMAE, Indice Mensual de la Actividad Económica) showed that economic activity growth sped up in May from the prior month’s revised 0.1% increase (previously reported: -0.7% month-on-month) to 0.4%.

On a year-on-year trend-cycle basis, growth in economic activity edged up from the prior month’s revised 2.7% (previously reported: +2.8% year-on-year) to 2.8% in May. Growth in May came on the back of expansions in the wholesale and retail trade; financial intermediation, insurance and auxiliary activities; agriculture; and manufacturing sectors. Meanwhile, annual average growth in economic activity was stable at the prior month’s revised 2.7% (previously reported: +2.6%) in May.

Guatemala GDP Forecast

Banguat expects growth of between 3.0%–3.8% in 2018 and 3.1%–4.1% in 2019. FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists see growth of 3.2% in 2018, which is unchanged from last month’s forecast. For 2019, our panelists expect growth to clock in at 3.3%.