*Chile’s central bank (BCCh) has released its latest monthly index of economic activity (Imacec), a key measure used to anticipate GDP figures, revealing a 2.5% year-on-year increase in economic activity for January 2025, marking the fourth consecutive month of growth. The January annual figure compares with a 6.6% year-on-year increase in December 2024. In seasonally adjusted terms, the Imacec rose by 0.4% from the previous month and expanded 2.3% over the past 12 months. The 0.4% increase was above the 0.2% median estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. According to the BCCh, the Imacec result owed mainly to trade (up 8.4% in annual terms and 3.4% in monthly terms) and industry (up 7.4% in annual terms and 2.2% in monthly terms). Mining was the only category that registered a decline in economic activity, falling by 0.3% in annual terms and 6.1% in monthly terms. A report last month by the government’s budget directorate (Dipres) forecasts that Chile’s GDP will grow 2.5% in 2025.
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