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

On 29 August, US firm VF Corporation, a holding company for major shoe and apparel brands such as Timberland, confirmed that it is suspending its imports of Brazilian leather over concerns with Brazil’s tanning industry’s environmental impact.... Read More

* Brazil’s national statistics institute (Ibge) has released figures for second-quarter growth, which show that GDP grew a quarterly 0.4% from April-June.... Read More

On 29 August, credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded Argentina’s sovereign credit rating from ‘B-’, temporarily declaring the country in selective default (‘SD’).... Read More

* Argentina’s official gazette has published government administrative decision 732/2019 which stipulates that public spending will be increased by ArS$24.79bn (US$427m) this year, in order to finance social spending and pensions.... Read More

President Jair Bolsonaro’s reputation abroad has been severely damaged by his response to an international outcry over the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon.... Read More

It does not look good for Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri ahead of the first round of presidential elections on 27 October.... Read More

“Paraguay is experiencing a combination of adverse internal and external events that affect economic activity… warranting the adoption of extraordinary measures to ensure that growth takes off in 2020”.... Read More

A bill tabled by Chile’s opposition that seeks to reform the country’s labour code to reduce the working week looks set to advance in congress.... Read More

On 27 August, Brazil’s federal supreme court (STF) annulled a sentence that was handed out by former judge Sérgio Moro, now justice minister, as part of the ‘Lava Jato’ corruption investigation.... Read More