Is the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Building a Sustainable Future?: A Snapshot from Latin America and the Caribbean

The region of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has faced some of the worst health and economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. Amid economic and social disruption, inequality in the world’s most unequal continent is on the rise. Following COVID-19, nations in LAC risk missing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reorient their economies for just and sustainable growth, and in so doing pull millions of people out of poverty and achieve greater levels of equality. Without efficient investment and incentives in recovery, the economic impacts of COVID-19 are likely to substantively expand the gap between LAC and advanced economies, as well as the gaps between national population groups. This report presents intermediate results of a broader analysis of the economic responses to the COVID-19 crisis in the LAC region, and how the allocated investments can accelerate the economic recovery phase while meeting climate change goals. The report has been developed thanks to an investment tracking tool, the LAC Recovery Tracker, which analyses over 1,100 policies to provide a live snapshot on spending in the region. The LAC Recovery Tracker is a subset of the larger Global Recovery Observatory.