Fiscal Challenges Facing Latin America and the Caribbean Will Be Analyzed at ECLAC, in a Context of Low Growth and Heightened Global Uncertainty

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will host on May 4-6 the XXXVIII session of the Regional Seminar on Fiscal Policy, main regional forum that brings together authorities, specialists, members of civil society and academia every year to discuss the fiscal policy challenges facing the region's countries.

Finance Ministry authorities from 10 of the region's countries will participate in the meeting, along with prominent experts from international organizations, academia, civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations.

The seminar organized by ECLAC includes presentations by authorities, academics, and representatives of international organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT). It is sponsored by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

In seven panels, those attending will address fiscal policy challenges in a context of low growth and great uncertainty; expenditures and public investment for reducing structural gaps; challenges of subnational tax policies; policy challenges of public revenues and options to strengthen tax systems; and financing for sustainable development.

The event will be inaugurated on Monday, May 4 at 2:30 p.m. local time in Chile (GMT -4) by José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, ECLAC's Executive Secretary and Laura Oroz, Ambassador to Chile of Spain.

At the meeting, ECLAC will release the Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2026, an annual publication in which the United Nations regional organization examines topics of relevance to the regional debate on fiscal policy. In addition to analyzing the evolution of key tax trends in 2025, the report explores topics such as the noncompliance with personal income tax and tax expenditures aimed at social objectives.

In addition, in the framework of the XXXVIII Fiscal Seminar, the findings of the 2026 edition of the Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean report will be presented on Tuesday, May 5. This publication is prepared jointly by ECLAC, the OECD, CIAT and the IDB group.

Members of the media are invited to follow the meeting online at https://live.cepal.org/seminariofiscal/ and via ECLAC's website .

What: XXXVIII Regional Seminar on Fiscal Policy

Who:

• José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, ECLAC's Executive Secretary.
• Finance Ministry authorities from 10 countries in the region.
• Prominent experts from international organizations, academia, civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations.

When: Monday, May 4 to Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

Inauguration (Monday, May 4, 2:30 p.m. local time in Chile, GMT -4):

• José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, ECLAC's Executive Secretary.
• Laura Oroz, Ambassador to Chile of Spain.

Where: ECLAC's headquarters (Av. Dag Hammarskjöld 3477, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile).

Online transmission via ECLAC's website and at https://live.cepal.org/seminariofiscal/.

For queries, contact ECLAC's Public Information Unit.

Email: [email protected]; Telephone: +562 2210 2040.