*Chile’s central bank (BCCh) has released its monthly index of economic activity (Imacec), which serves as a proxy for GDP, showing 0% growth year-on-year for the month of September. This is down from year-on-year increases of 2.3% in August and 4.2% in July. The BCCh explained that September’s figures result from a 2.3% decrease year-on-year in production of goods, offset by 2.9% and 1.6% yearly growth in commerce and the services sector respectively. In seasonally adjusted terms, the Imacec decreased by 0.8% as compared to the previous month. Mining and the manufacturing industry fell by 2.8% and 1.6% respectively in monthly terms. In a press conference, Chile’s finance minister, Mario Marcel, said the September Imacec results were “very disappointing”, adding that, with these results “the 2.6% growth that we were forecasting for this year will not be achieved”.
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