Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) President Carlos Carvallo Spalding said the country's economic growth is surpassing the institution's forecasts, emphasizing it is not an isolated phenomenon or a miracle. He made the statement during the opening of the 56th General Assembly of the Latin American Association of Development Finance Institutions (Alide), held in Asunción.
"We were wrong every year, because the Central Bank is an extremely conservative institution, little inclined to be overly optimistic, and the economy surprised us every year," Carvallo said. Between 2023 and 2025, average expansion exceeded 5%, and for 2026 the projection is 4.2%. In the first months of the year, figures already surpassed that target: cumulative growth in the first quarter was 4.7%, and in March, year-on-year, the variation reached 8.2%.
"The growth is not explained by any particular sector, a miracle, or the discovery of some commodity," Carvallo stressed. According to him, the dynamism is broad-based and driven by domestic demand. "The virtuous aspect of this economic growth is that when external demand is not helping, the internal engines are on, they are pushing," he added.
Former BCP President and former Finance Minister Carlos Fernández Valdovinos also participated in the event with a lecture titled "Latin America, Challenges in a Volatile World." He analyzed the global scenario and pointed out that geopolitical tensions, especially due to the war in Iran, are generating inflationary pressures not only from rising oil prices but also from higher logistics costs, particularly for containers.