Central bank officials: Latin America in better conditions to face financial crisis

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis　

LIMA, March 17 (Chinese media) -- Latin America is in better conditions to face the international financial crisis, officials of central banks of the region said Tuesday.

The conclusion was reached at a seminar titled "The global financial crisis: Answer from the central bank in the western hemisphere" held in Lima, the Peruvian capital, said Peru's Central Bank of Reserves.

Officials from central banks of Latin America discussed the impacts of the financial crisis and they considered that Latin America was in better conditions to face it, the bank said.

The participants shared the experiences of Latin American countries, and discussed the challenges brought by the crisis, said Julio Velarde, chief of Peru's central bank.

The seminary, organized by the Peruvian central bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was also attended by officials from the central banks of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Chile, Uruguay and Colombia, as well as the European Central Bank and international financial institutions.

Velarde said that the crisis demanded different actions and central banks in the world have taken actions of monetary policies to tackle the crisis.

Gilbert Terrier, the representative from the IMF, also said that Latin America was in a better position to face the crisis due to different factors.

The financial system in the region barely had toxic assets, its external and public debts had been reduced over the last year, he said.

"The response from Latin America has been very fast with injections to the liquidity," Terrier added.