Jose Antonio Ocampo discussed the economic consequences of COVID19 in Latin America, the new epicenter of the pandemic. He described the dramatic effect of quarantine on employment and production, which are heightened by uncertainty on the future of trade and commodity prices. He also pointed to the emergence of new social policies reaching not only the poor, but also the vulnerable population as an important consequence. In his view, the pandemic will force Latin American countries to invest more on health and to seek improving their fiscal capacity with a more redistributive reach.
