José Manuel Salazar, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean: “Latin America and the Caribbean, at the end of 2022 and in 2023, will face an external context marked by the maintenance of restrictive monetary policies given the persistence of high prices, especially those of energy and food, as well as increases of financial volatility and greater risk aversion, and lower capital flows to emerging economies. This environment will affect not only Latin America and the Caribbean’s economic activity, but also its access and cost of financing, very important for a region that has significantly increased its debt levels. The dynamics of economic activity during 2022 in this region reflect a higher-than-expected growth rate during the first half of the year and a slowdown during the second half. The reduction of rhythm observed in the second half of 2022 will continue through 2023, which suggests that…”