Chile to cut growth forecast after economic activity stalls in September

SANTIAGO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Chile will cut its economic growth forecast after the IMACEC economic activity index was well below expectations for September, the country's finance minister said Monday.

The central bank reported earlier on Monday that the September IMACEC was unchanged compared with a year earlier, well below the 1.1% growth expected by economists polled by Reuters.

"Even if we perform better in the following months, the activity that's lost this month won't recover," Finance Minister Mario Marcel told reporters, adding that the projected 2.6% growth forecast for 2024 wouldn't be met with September's figure.

"We're going to update our projections once we have the quarterly figures," Marcel said, noting that the difference won't be large but quarterly numbers are needed for a better projection.

Economic activity in the world's largest copper-producing country was down 0.8% compared with the previous month, the central bank added.

It said the annual figure was explained by growth in services and trade, offset by the performance of goods production.

"Trade grew by 2.9% supported by retail sales while services advanced by 1.6% due to professional and transport services."

Goods production declined by 2.3% due to lower value added in electricity generation. (Reporting by Fabian Cambero and Luana Maria Benedito; writing by Natalia Siniawskiand Alexander Villegas; editing by Mark Heinrich, Angus MacSwan and Aurora Ellis)