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| - Chile's central bank on Wednesday revised its economic growth forecast for 2021 upward by half a percentage point to a range of 6-7 percent. Beset by the coronavirus pandemic, Chile's economy shrank by 5.8 percent in 2020 -- its worst result in three decades. "The perspectives for 2021 have strengthened, supported by ... the sustained advance in the vaccination process, the better external impetus and the continuity of expansive policies," said the central bank. The rising price of copper, of which Chile is the world's largest producer, also contributed to the revised projection. However, the bank warned that "there are still great risks related to the unprecedented shock caused by the pandemic," which in the short term will see economic activity drop as most of Chile is temporarily under lockdown to suppress rising coronavirus infections. Meanwhile, the national statistics institute said unemployment had risen by 2.5 percentage points over the last 12 months, reaching 10.3 percent in the rolling December-February quarter. Those figures were even worse for the Santiago metropolitan area -- home to seven million of the country's 19 million people -- where unemployment rose by 3.3 percentage points to 11.9 percent over the last 12 months. Many jobs have been lost in the business, lodging, food services and domestic employment sectors. Mining production dropped 6.2 percent in February compared to the same period in 2020, the statistics institute said. That was due to a reduction in the extraction and processing of copper, as well as a drop in its ore quality. However, the institute also pointed out that 2020 was a leap year so last February had an extra day of production compared to this year. Chile produces just under a third of global copper, amounting to more than 5.6 million metric tons and accounting for 10-15 percent of the South American country's GDP. Chile has recorded almost a million Covid-19 cases and more than 23,00 deaths, yet it is making great strides in its immunization program, having given at least a single jab to more than 6.6 million people. The government expects to vaccinate 15 million people by the end of June. apg/pa/rsr/bc/bgs
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