Economic "worries" prevail across Latin America according to an assessment by Alejandro Werner, the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) director for the Western Hemisphere. Werner made this pronouncement two days after the economic organization closed its 2015 growth forecast.

The World Economic Outlook Update released info on Monday that forecast a growth of 1.3 percent for Latin America in 2015, EFE reports. This is down nine-tenths of a percentage point from the Fund's previous forecast last October.

IMF foresees economic contraction in Venezuela and Argentina and growth of 0.3 percent in Brazil in 2015 and has lowered its forecast for Latin American growth in 2016 to 2.3 percent; this is down from 2.8 percent.

"Worries dominate across much of Latin America and the Caribbean today," Werner said at a press conference on Wednesday at IMF headquarters in Washington.

Werner referred to a sharp drop in the price of oil and other raw materials, pointing to "challenging external conditions," which included economic weakness in the Eurozone, China and Japan.

IMF stated Brazil is beset by "anemic" economic activity and a "stubbornly weak" private sector confidence. The economic organization added Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's commitment to "rein in the fiscal deficit and reduce inflation should help to shore up confidence in Brazil's macroeconomic policy framework."

The report offered a decidedly brighter assessment of northern Latin America.

On the up side, the IMF said Mexico's economy is projected to expand by 3.2 percent this year; this is up from 2.1 percent in 2014 but still lower than the October forecast for 3.5 percent growth.

Despite some reservations about a "lingering sluggishness," Alejandro Werner said IMF's growth forecast for Mexico is a "solid prospect."

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