LAC post COVID-19: Challenges and opportunities for Central America, Haiti, Mexico, Panama and the Dominican Republic

The policies being implemented in the region to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 are short-term support mechanisms, to ensure income for the most vulnerable groups and support to firms facing demand and supply shocks. These policies, although essential at this time, have 2 limitations (i) they do not solve the longer-term problems related to informality and low labor and firm productivity, which characterize Latin America and the Caribbean and (ii) are not sustainable in the medium term given the macroeconomic and fiscal challenges the region was facing before the pandemic. The crisis has further highlighted the pre-existing socio-economic vulnerabilities and the region's lack of preparedness for extreme events.
These reports identify these vulnerabilities and the medium and long-term priorities for each of the Bank's borrowing countries in a post-COVID-19 region, structuring them along three areas: (i) productive policies; (ii) social policies and (iii) macro-fiscal policies.