*Chile’s central bank (BCCh) has reported that its monthly index of economic activity (Imacec), which is considered an advance estimate of GDP, increased by 2.3% in August year-on-year, down from 4.2% in July. In seasonally adjusted terms, economic activity decreased by 0.2% from July, matching the worst estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts that had a median forecast of 0.3% growth. This follows a quarterly GDP contraction in the second quarter of 2024 – the first contraction on a quarterly basis in a year. In monthly terms in August, the services sector was down 0.6%, while manufacturing industry was down 0.8%. However, commerce was up 0.7%, and mining by 2.3%. In year-on-year terms, services were up 1.9% in August, manufacturing by 2.7%, mining by 8.0%, and commerce by 3.0%.
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