(VOVworld) – The economic challenges that Latin America faces are not trivial amid decreasing raw materials’ prices, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s deputy chief David Lipton said at a high-level conference on Latin America in Washington on Tuesday.

People walk up a steep hill past murals on the walls in a slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September, 2012. (Photo: Csmonitor)

Heading to a summit this October for finance officials from the IMF, the World Bank, and Latin American countries in Lima, Peru, the IMF official predicted an increase of only 1.9 per cent for the region’s growth, with three major economies likely to fall into recession: Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela.
Lipton said that Latin American economies were facing big challenges in terms of productivity and education, urging them to undertake economic restructuring, fine-tune regulations and their legal systems, create favourable conditions for investors, and improve their infrastructure and education systems. Latin American countries need to diversify their products and make the most of regional advantages to become part of the global value chain, he added.