Business spending is on the rise in Chile. Half of the 105 Chilean investment projects that were affected in some manner by the global economic crisis in 2009 have already been re-activated by their owners, according to a report by Chile’s Capital Goods Corporation, an investment company.
In the fourth quarter alone 15 privately financed projects, worth a total of US$3.7 billion, including Cencosud’s (Santiago Stock Exchange:CENCO) Costanera Center and the Phase V expansion of Minera Escondida were re-started. In total, for the year, 52 projects worth a total US$9.4 billion, were set back into motion. However, other projects that are worth a total of US$12.1 billion remain in limbo.
However, overall, the boost in business spending was one of the factors that helped Chile recover quickly from the recession and report an annual growth figure of 1.8%, the best in the OECD, according to figures reported in Chilean daily El Mercurio.
Alvaro Merino, Director of Research at Chile’s National Mining Society, an industry group, said “this [news] is very positive, we have signaled that in the next few years… we’ll have projects worth a total of US$45 billion.” Not just in copper, Chile’s major export, “but also in gold, silver, and non-metal mining,” he added.
Carlos Urenda, General Secretary of Chile’s Construction Chamber of Comerse, said that the country’s improved economic performance and outlook was a major factor venid the jump in investment in the contruction sector. “Better economic conditions… have translated into the initiation of projects in housing as well as infrastructure,” he explained.
In a recent interview, Luis Oganes, head of Latin America research at J.P. Morgan in New York said, “a year after the worst crisis the region has experienced in decades, it’s nice to see [Chile] bounce back in this manner.”
