According to the Central Bank, between January and March 2023, US$2.104 billion left the country, while in the same period last year US$3.008 billion was expatriated. By month, US$1.161 billion left in January, US$1.337 billion in February, but in March US$395 million entered the country.
Read the full article in La Tercera-Pulso.
Last year, US$10.432 billion in net resources left the country, representing a 9.2% decrease compared to the US$11.495 billion that left in 2021. This figure marked a break in the trend observed following the social unrest of October 2019.
Although this downward trend continued during the first quarter, the figures are still well above pre-social unrest levels. According to the Central Bank, between January and March 2023, US$2.104 billion left the country, representing a 30% decrease compared to the same period last year, when US$3.008 billion was expatriated.
Breaking it down by month, US$1.161 billion left the country in January, US$1.337 billion in February, but in March US$395 million entered the country.
Now, compared to the first quarter of 2020, the decline is 66%, as US$6.233 billion left the country during that period. That quarter also saw a sharp increase, as it occurred immediately after the effects of the social unrest and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite this decrease, the figure is still far above what the country experienced before the social unrest. For example, according to the Central Bank, in the first quarter of 2019, only US$78 million left the country, and in 2018 there was even an inflow of US$324 million.
In mid-2021, the Central Bank warned that withdrawals from pension funds were generating a sharp increase in capital outflows from the country, especially from the non-financial corporate sector and households. Therefore, as a new bill seeking to advance this measure is now being discussed, experts warn that continuing with this initiative could trigger a surge of capital flowing abroad.
Economists explain that capital flight occurs when assets or money quickly leave a country due to events with economic implications. This can result from higher taxes or fiscal imbalance leading to rising public debt and potential insolvency, or from political and social events that generate uncertainty, such as what occurred in October 2019.
Javier Jaque, partner in Tax Consulting at CCL Auditores Consultores, agrees with this view, stating that “there are objective factors showing that we still have not reached political and economic equilibrium. The tax reform remains unresolved, and it is unclear how the process will conclude. We are far from defining what a new tax reform will look like. That is why we still see levels above those observed after the social unrest.”