Mortality profiles based on living conditions: a Venezuelan experience.

In 1992, for the second consecutive year, the overall economic activity in Latin America and the Caribbean experienced growth.The GDP increased 2.4% (compared to the 3.5% figure in 1991), an increase that outpaced population growth, and the per capita GDP rose 0.5 %, again for the second consecutive year, although it is still 7% below the level reached in 1980. Variations in the performance of individual economies continue to be seen. Brazil's situation is particularly noteworthy, in that it exerts a major influence on the whole; thus, if Brazil is excluded, the regional GDP grew 4.3%. Inflation continued to drop in several countries, although Brazil's increase (more than 1,100%) brought the regional rate to a higher level than in 1991. The average increase in prices, weighted by population, declined from 1,200% in 1989 and 1990 to 200% in 1991, only to increase again to 410% in 1992. Of the other 21 countries for which data are available, by the end of 1992, 16 had inflation rates below 20%, 2 between 20% and 50%, and the other 3 between 50% and 70%. The Region's external debt, increased by 2% in 1992, reaching a total of US$450 billion, and the proportion that the accrued interest represents in total exports of goods and services continued to decline, reaching 20%. This decline mainly was due to a drop in interest rates, since sales were somewhat flat. However, payments continued to represent an excessive proportion, which means that efforts to reduce them must continue to be pursued. Foreign trade, which up to 1991 showed a surplus, posted a deficit both in overall terms and for most of the individual countries, because imports increased faster than exports; the former doubled between 1987 and 1992, while exports increased only slightly less than 50% for the same period. Pro-market policies are the cornerstone of the economic strategies in almost all of the Region's. The reduction of bureaucratic controls, the introduction of new technology, the opening of markets, the promotion of exports through overall competitiveness, the lifting of exchange market controls, an end to price controls, the privatization of public companies, control of government spending, and the careful management of monetary policy are the key elements of the new economic policies in the Region. Of 28 countries, 24 showed positive economic growth rates: Argentina, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Saint Vincent and the Grena-