This year is marked by higher than baseline levels of uncertainty, brought on by the downstream effects of the sub-prime meltdown, continuing weakness in the dollar, and the first whispers that the United States – by far the world’s largest economy, with 34% of world GDP – is in fact already in recession.

Latin America continues to be relatively shielded from the global credit crunch, aided by more resilient macroeconomic policies, strong fundamentals heading into the event itself, and limited exposure to the affected institutions.