Guatemala: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Guatemala

This 2023 Article IV Consultation highlights that Guatemala's solid record of accomplishment of prudent macroeconomic policies and large remittance inflows provided the country with large buffers to weather a challenging global environment and tightened global financial conditions. Inflationary pressures remain high; with April 2023 headline inflation at 8.32 percent. The currency has remained stable and the external balances solid, despite a large import bill. The financial sector has proven resilient to global financial tightening conditions and domestic interest rate hikes. Guatemala stays an economy with untapped opportunities. Scaling up the implementation of a transformative infrastructure agenda, fostering human capital and social policies, and enhancing legal certainty are critical to support a sustainable and inclusive medium-term growth model with higher potential growth. While the global outlook is challenging, the current conjuncture also offers many opportunities to draw on the demographic dividend and to fast track reforms to improve the business climate environment and attract foreign investment.