This paper estimates the potential distributional consequences of the first phase of the COVID-19 lockdowns on poverty and labour income inequality in 20 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. We estimate the share of individuals that are potentially able to remain active under the lockdown by taking into account individuals’ teleworking capacity but also whether their occupation is affected by legal workplace closures or mobility restrictions. Furthermore, we compare the shares under the formal (de jure) lockdown policies assuming perfect compliance with the shares under de facto lockdowns where there is some degree of non-compliance. We then estimate individuals’ potential labour income losses and examine changes in poverty and labour income inequality. We find an increase in poverty and labour income inequality in most of the LAC countries due to social distancing; however, the observed changes are lower under de facto lockdowns, revealing the potential role of non-compliance as a coping strategy during the lockdowns. Social distancing measures have led to an increase in inequality both between and within countries. Lastly, we show that most of the dispersion in the labour income loss across countries is explained by the sectoral/occupational employment structure of the economies.

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This paper presents machine learning models fitted to nowcast or predict quarterly GDP activity in real time for Belize and El Salvador. The initiative is part of the Inter-American Development Bank's (IDB) ongoing effort to develop timely economic monitoring tools following the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nowcasting techniques offer an effective tool to fill the information gap between the end of a quarter and the official publication of macroeconomic indicators that are generally lagged by 60 to 90 days, by exploiting the availability of other indicators that are published more frequently. The results show that machine learning techniques can produce accurate quarterly GDP forecasts for two structurally different economies within economic contexts marked by extreme degrees of volatility and uncertainty at both the national and international levels. Because the calibration of nowcasting exercises is a dynamic process that is refined over time, at the IDB, we trust that this document will help support the ongoing work of the governments and statistical agencies of Belize and El Salvador in securing better economic forecasts to inform agile policy decisions.

El Salvador is undergoing a process of demographic transition in which the dependency ratio will continue to decrease until 2032 -2033, which implies that the country will continue to enjoy favourable demographic conditions over the next 15 years. The benefits of demographic dividends are not automatic, however. Rather, countries need to implement public policy measures to maximize this advantage. El Salvador's relatively low investment in human capital and its modest gains in labour productivity suggest that the country is not leveraging its demographic dividend. The migration of Salvadorans of working age abroad is one of the factors that, other things being equal, have had an impact on the country's weak capacity to utilize these favourable circumstances. This article shows that the positive contribution made to output growth by the demographic dividend would have been greater were it not for the migration of Salvadorans of working age.