Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Chile has an “almost unprecedented” opportunity to grow along with Asian demand for raw materials, said Nicolas Eyzaguirre, director of the International Monetary Fund’s Western Hemisphere department.

Asian commodity demand will help drive growth among Chile’s middle income earners, Eyzaguirre, a former Chilean finance minister, told a conference in Santiago today.

While Chile has solid macroeconomic policies, it also has problems with social issues such as education costs and has an opportunity to make structural reforms, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Randall Woods in Santiago at rwoods13@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Attwood at jattwood3@bloomberg.net