Lower oil prices will hamper Latin America's manufacturing growth

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The consensus among economists is that lower oil prices are good for consumers because it gives them more disposable income; and good for manufacturers because of the lower input costs and higher consumer demand. As ever, Latin America remains in a case of its own. One issue is that during the period of high oil prices, the Brazilian and Argentine governments have subsidised consumers at the petrol pump, so the effect of lower prices has already been mitigated; another is that low oil prices deter investment in energy extraction, where much of the predicted growth in Latin America was due to come from.