LatinNews Daily - 29 September 2026

*Chile’s President José Antonio Kast has unveiled a new job creation plan ‘Chile Despega’ (‘Chile takes off’) involving an investment of Cl$1.30tn (US$1.34bn) which seeks to create over 100,000 jobs. According to the government, the plan is necessary to address the fact that unemployment is currently at 9.5% and has been above 8% for 43 consecutive months. The plan comprises four main pillars of action: accelerating public investment and public works which can be carried out quickly; promote direct hiring and employment including through the use of subsidies to encourage businesses to create new posts; improve liquidity for businesses through freeing up capital via payments to healthcare system suppliers and reinforcing state guarantees through the Fondo de Garantía para Pequeños Empresarios (Fogape), a state-backed guarantee fund that helps micro, small, and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs); and implementing a national policy of works to be carried out locally. This would combine major works with local municipal projects, using criteria such as unemployment, infrastructure damage, project readiness, and speed of hiring, alongside mechanisms to control and monitor the execution of these projects.

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