LatAm's economy to grow only 0.5 pct in 2015: IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its forecasts for the Latin American economy on Thursday, saying the region would only grow 0.5 percent in 2015, mainly due to lower commodity prices.

The IMF's latest World Economic Outlook report downgraded its yearly growth projections for the region's top two economies, Brazil and Mexico.

Brazil is expected to see its economy shrink by 1.5 percent, half a percentage point more than the agency predicted in its previous quarterly report in April.

Mexico, meanwhile, will see a 2.4 percent growth this year, down from the 3 percent growth forecast earlier.

"A setback to activity in the first quarter of 2015, mostly in North America, has resulted in a small downward revision to global growth for 2015 relative to April 2015," the IMF said.

2015 global growth was downgraded from 3.5 percent in April to 3.3 percent.

"The slowdown reflects the dampening impact of lower commodity prices and tighter external financial conditions -- particularly in Latin America and oil exporters," the report said.

Regional growth is expected to see an uptick in 2016, in keeping with a slight global expansion, reaching 1.7 percent.

Similarly, Brazil is forecast to reach 0.7 percent growth next year, less than the 1 percent projected earlier, while Mexico will reach 3 percent growth in 2016, the report said. Endi