Chilean economy shrinks 1.4% during January

SANTIAGO.- The Central Bank announced today that, when compared to the same month during 2008, the Chilean economy decreased by 1.4% during January.

The deseasonalized series rose by 0.2% in comparison to the previous month, while the cyclical tendency series registered annual expansion of 0.2%.

The decrease in the Monthly Economic Activity Index (Imacec) is the worst for the month since January of 1999, when it dropped 3.1% during the Asian crisis.

The figure announced today was negatively impacted by both a drop in industrial and commercial activity, as well as the fact that the month included one workday less than January of 2008.

The negative Imacec had been widely anticipated by the market, which had estimated that the economy would decrease by between 1% and 2% during the month.

In January of 2008, the figure grew 3.7%, while in December of the same year it reported a positive variation of 0.5%.