Economy & Business - February 2026

Cuba faces multiple crises: oil imports have halted, following the US’ removal of Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026) and subsequent threat of tariffs on other oil suppliers; the power grid only operates at half its capacity; and there are food and foreign currency shortages.... Read More

On 9 January the CEO of US oil firm ExxonMobil, Darren Woods, told President Donald Trump that Venezuela’s oil industry was “uninvestable” and that a major prerequisite for foreign capital would be a new hydrocarbons law.... Read More

Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa has taken a page from President Donald Trump’s foreign policy playbook by slapping a tariff on Colombian imports in the hope of getting Bogotá to do more against criminal groups operating along their border.... Read More

In January, the government of Peru’s then president José Jerí (2025-2026) issued a decree allowing for the restructuring of state oil company Petroperú, permitting private investment in its key assets, which could be separated into blocks.... Read More

The international credit ratings agency Fitch upgraded Bolivia’s credit rating from CCC- to CCC on 16 January, stating that this “reflects easing risks of default or restructuring due to reduced political constraints on external financing, financing commitments from multilaterals, and the elimination of fuel subsidies, which should support fiscal deficit reduction and reserve accumulation”.... Read More

COLOMBIA | Interest rate hiked.... Read More

The ink had barely dried on the free trade agreement signed in January between the European Union (EU) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) when the European Parliament questioned the legality of the deal.... Read More

The US, countries in the European Union (EU), and others have turbo-charged efforts to secure mining raw materials to keep strategic parts of their economies running.... Read More

In theory, Chile’s miners should be a happy bunch.... Read More

ARGENTINA | Slashing of public sector jobs continues.... Read More

Honduras’ new President Nasry Asfura, of the right-wing Partido Nacional (PN), is throwing in his lot with US President Donald Trump and plans to leverage public-private partnerships to boost growth and prosperity, a sharp departure from his predecessor.... Read More

Costa Rica’s outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves is set to pass on the office to his hand-picked successor Laura Fernández following the latter’s election victory on 1 February, and he leaves with a mixed record on the economy.... Read More

PANAMA | Gov’t hails record exports.... Read More

Mexico hauled in “record” taxes in 2025, up by 4.8% from the previous year to M$6.05tn (US$352.96bn) “without increasing taxes, just by continuing to work against tax evasion”, according to President Claudia Sheinbaum.... Read More

North American competitiveness and overall economic prosperity hang in the balance as formal discussions for the upcoming review of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) were kicked off by a meeting between Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer in Washington on 28 January.... Read More

Mexican magnate Carlos Slim’s Grupo Carso conglomerate has continued a recent run of investments in the country’s energy sector.... Read More

MEXICO | Inflation edges up in January.... Read More