A Roundtable Discussion with the IMF’s Alejandro Werner, the IDB’s Eric Parrado, and Fitch Ratings’ Shelly Shetty

The Inter-American Dialogue is pleased to host an off-the-record lunch discussion on regional economic outlook with three leading experts—Alejandro Werner, Eric Parrado, and Shelly Shetty. The meeting offers an opportunity for corporate program members to exchange views on the outlook for Latin American and Caribbean economies in the year ahead, as well as political trends shaping the business environment in key countries of the region. 

Since 2013, Alejandro Werner, a Mexican economist, has been the director of the Western Hemisphere Department of the International Monetary Fund. Eric Parrado became chief economist and general manager of the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) last year. Before that, he was a professor of economics and finance at the ESE Business School of the Universidad de los Andes in Santiago, Chile. Shelly Shetty is co-head of Latin American Sovereigns at Fitch Ratings in New York. She has spent nearly twenty years at Fitch Ratings, conducting credit analysis and economic research in emerging markets like Latin America.

The session will focus on a variety of questions, including: How are external factors such as global trade tensions, the coronavirus outbreak, Brexit and other developments likely to affect Latin America this year? How much have violent and disruptive social protests in recent months altered the region’s economic outlook? What structural issues are holding back the region’s development? How well are the relatively new administrations in key countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Mexico handling economic policy? How is the region’s business environment evolving, and what sorts of changes and opportunities hold the most promise for improving it?

PANELISTS

ALEJANDRO WERNER

Director of the Western Hemisphere Department, International Monetary Fund

ERIC PARRADO

Chief Economist, Inter-American Development Bank (@eric_parrado)

SHELLY SHETTY

Senior Director and Co-Head of Latin American Sovereigns, Fitch Ratings

MODERATOR

MICHAEL SHIFTER

President, Inter-American Dialogue (@MichaelShifter)