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While other issues dominated the headlines, the most important news for Latin America in 2014 — and the one that will have the biggest impact in the near future — was the dramatic collapse of world oil prices.
Granted, other news such as President Barack Obama’s recent announcement that the United States will normalize relations with Cuba and the reelection of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will no doubt have an impact. But nothing is likely to change the region’s political map like the decline in world oil prices, which have plummeted nearly 50 percent since June to the current level of about $55 a barrel.
According to a new International Monetary Fund study released last week, it’s a trend that is likely to stay with us in coming years.
The study, by IMF economists Rabah Arezki and Olivier Blanchard, notes that the oil futures market suggests that prices will rebound slightly to about $73 a barrel by 2019, but that they will remain depressed compared to their levels of recent years. Oil prices hit a record of $145 a barrel in 2008.
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Etiquetas: Andres Oppenheimer, Dilma Rousseff, low oil prices, oil
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