Central bank president Henrique Meirelles says the economy is living an `extremely positive moment' in which it has also recovered the confidence of the financial markets, as illustrated by last week's take-up of a US$1.5bn issue of public debt bonds (originally planned to reach only US$1bn, but increased when demand hit US$7bn).
ARGENTINA | Reactivation is faltering. Industrial activity in September was 1.4% lower than in August, a worrying turnaround after having clocked an increase of more than 16% over the past year. A survey conducted by the national statistical institute, Indec, shows 55.1% of industrialists expecting no change in the fourth quarter, and 42.9% expecting an improvement.
The broader economic activity index for August showed an insignificant increase of 0.1% over July, which left it 8% above the reading for the same time last year. Looking on the bright side, the August index is virtually back at the same level as in August 2001, when the Argentine economy began to contract sharply.
PARAGUAY | A future in diamonds? The Belgian-Canadian firm Rex Diamond Mining Corporation is planning to start commercial development of fields that over 18 months of prospecting have yielded 10 diamonds measuring between 0.7 and 1 milimetres, and 600 minerals indicating the presence of diamonds. The firm had been prospecting in the east-central departments of Caaguazú and Guairá, and Alto Paraná, on the eastern border with Brazil. Authorisation now depends on the environmental impact assessment and a law of congress.
URUGUAY | Recovery predicted for 2004. The Uruguayan economy will register virtually zero growth this year, but will expand by 5% in 2004, according to projections released by the economics school of the national university. Actually, the figures show an upturn beginning in the last quarter of this year and carrying on into 2004, when otherwise the study suggests that there will be `modest' growth, largely concentrated in the first half of the year. Exports are expected to expand by 13% next year, driven by demand from the recovering economies of neighbouring countries.
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