Volume XXIV – Number 1
Uziel Nogueira
Abstract:
After unprecedented and steady economic expansion since World War II, Latin America is currently facing such a dramatic economic downturn that the 1980’s can be referred to as a lost decade. The region’s huge and seemingly intractable foreign debt is stifling economic growth and threatening international financing institutions, both private and multilateral such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank. Paradoxically, the genesis of Latin America’s foreign debt lies in the energy sectors tremendous expansion of the oil supply in a short period of time. The first part of the article reviews the role played by petroleum in the energy matrix during the 1970’s, followed by the external sectorial adjustment of both oil-importing and oil-exporting economies and the supply-side response, particularly in hydrocarbons and electricity. The analysis of the demand-side response and pricing policy is followed by conclusions consideration of the current constraints facing the development of the energy sector in the 1990’s.
Key Words: Latin America, Energy, Economy, expansion, debt, lost decade, matrix, petroleum, oil
