The International Monetary Fund disclosed on Wednesday that while the impact of the global recession on the Caribbean and Latin America has been "severe and wide-ranging", the region is now better positioned to weather the current downturn.

The Washington-based financial institution also said that the region was also expected to emerge from the financial crisis earlier than advanced economies.

According to the bank's latest 'Regional Economic Outlook: Western Hemisphere' report, economic activity in the Caribbean and Latin America will suffer less than in previous global downturns.

It estimated that the region will "hit bottom" in the first part of 2009 and will begin to grow in the second part of the year, compared to predictions that growth in advanced economies may not turn positive until the middle of 2010.