LatinNews Regional Monitor: Brazil & Southern Cone - 30 January 2019

On 29 January, Salim Mattar, Brazil’s new denationalisation & divestment secretary within the economy ministry, said that only Petrobras, the Banco do Brasil (BB), and the Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF) would remain state-owned companies after the government completes its privatisation drive.... Read More

* Brazil’s central government posted a primary deficit of R$120.3bn (US$32.3bn) last year, equivalent to 1.7% of GDP, and a 3.2% decrease on the 2017 primary deficit of R$124.4bn.... Read More

On 29 January, the Confederaciones Rurales Argentinas (CRA), one of Argentina’s four principal farmers’ associations, released a statement in which it welcomed the national government’s decision to declare a state of emergency in four northern provinces affected by flooding, while noting that the ensuing measures do not resolve the situation.   ... Read More

* Chile’s chamber of commerce (CNC) has reported that online sales were up 39.4% in 2018 – 7.8 percentage points higher than in 2017.... Read More

With an air of finality, Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has had his perennial ambition to regain access to the Pacific Ocean deflated by a ruling handed down by the United Nations (UN)-backed International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.... Read More