MERCOSUR Report No. 4 (1998)

In the first half of 1998, the impact of the Asian crisis on the level of economic activity in the four MERCOSUR countries was, in addition to being reasonably differentiated, much less severe than had been forecast at the end of 1997. However, the sub-regional gross domestic product (GDP), after registering 3.2% growth in 1996 and 4.7% growth in 1997, is expected to register much more modest growth this year, probably less than 3%.