IMPACT OF COVID 19 ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CENTRAL AMERICAN EXPORTING COMPANIES: A FIRST REVIEW

The Covid-19 disease has had major consequences around the world for both public health and the real economy. This economic crisis generated by COVID-19 turns out to be different from previous crises in aspects such as the urgency, scope and magnitude of the negative shock on demand and supply. Countries such as El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, located in Central America, which are among the poorest in Latin America implemented anti-Covid-19 measures since March 2020. Such as restricting mobility and temporarily shutting down non-essential economic activities. As a result, households and businesses are facing an economic downturn due to the pandemic, with effects across the supply chain and from the demand side, because customers can't leave. For this analysis, the average impact on the sales of exporting companies will be estimated. The results indicate that all companies experienced a sudden drop-in economic activity. Permanently closed exporting firms accounted for 6% of employment, compared with 1% for all other firms in the domestic market. This is a first review of the effects of Covid-19 mitigation measures on the performance of exporting companies in four Latin American countries. The study uses a longitudinal database to perform a descriptive analysis of company conditions and company survival. A difference model is used to estimate the average impact on the sales of exporting companies.