Quartz reports: The true extent of Hurricane Maria’s damage to Puerto Rico is still being tallied. But here’s a good indication of how bad it will be—the island’s economy will shrink by about 8% in 2018, according to a November forecast by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
That puts Puerto Rico at the top of the list of the slowest-growing economies in the world.
Our @TheEIU forecasts for the world’s 20 slowest growing economies in 2018. #Venezuela to shrink yet again. #Saudi and some other oil producers sluggish. #Italy #UK among EU’s slowest. pic.twitter.com/rVX4Y4Onzm
— Robert Ward (@RobertAlanWard) November 21, 2017
Puerto Rico might have made it on that list even if hadn’t been hit by the Category 4 storm on Sept. 20, but it likely wouldn’t have been at the top. Last year, the island’s economy contracted by closer to 1%, according to government estimates. [Continue reading…]