LatAm Countries Agree South-South Cooperation Key to Curbing Inequality Xinhua
go to original May 27, 2016

Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto (5th-L), accompanied by the Executive Secretary of Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Barcena (5th-R), and members of his cabinet, takes part in the opening ceremony of 36th session of ECLAC, at Official Residence of Los Pinos, in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, on May 24, 2016. (Xinhua)

The ranking of countries according to their GDP growth is ineffective in understanding inequality while bolstering South-South cooperation instead could better help Latin America overcome its obstacles, say experts.

GDP growth is incapable of reflecting inequality rates, as is the case of Latin American countries, according to some voices here at an ongoing regional conference.

In a speech Wednesday during the 36th session of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Alicia Barcena, the UN agency's executive secretary, pointed to the fact that the World Bank lists 28 countries in the region as middle-income countries without recognizing any structural differences between them.

The World Bank has used this low, medium and high-income classification for over 40 years, based on GDP, but attendees at the meeting roundly rejected its applicability.

"Per capita income is also not the right indicator to measure the development of countries. Income divided by the population does not reflect absolutely who is receiving that income. This indicator is also obsolete," said Ricardo Herrera, director of the Chilean Agency for International Cooperation on Development.

He pointed to serious inequality within Chile, which is ranked as a middle-income country nevertheless.

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