Chile's economic activity in February slid 1.3 percent from a year ago, the central bank said Wednesday, its worst performance since the 2009 financial crisis, largely due to a strike at a major copper mine. The IMACEC economic activity index - equivalent to some 90 percent of the economy - came in broadly in line with a Reuters forecast for a slide of 1.2 percent.
The reading was dragged down by an around 17-percent fall in mining activity. Escondida, the BHP Billiton operated copper mine in northern Chile that is by far the world's biggest, was halted the entire month due to a strike. Workers returned to their posts from March 25, but the company has warned that it will take some time for operations to get back to full capacity. Chile's finance minister Rodrigo Valdes said Wednesday that, while he did not expect "amazing" growth in March from the likely continued impact of the strike, the effect was transitory and a gradual recovery should happen over coming months.