Economy & Business - September 2019

Set against the backdrop of a slowing global economy and concentrated flows into the region, in August the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) released its annual report into the state of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region in 2018, highlighting a number of patterns and emerging trends.... Read More

Colombia’s right-wing President Iván Duque and the ruling Centro Democrático (CD) marked one year in office on 7 August, with a mixed report card on the economy and other areas.... Read More

Struggles over mining have intensified in Ecuador as the government led by President Lenín Moreno has signalled its intent to make the sector one of the pillars of the economy, and anti-mining activists have made important advances in their efforts to prevent the expansion of medium- and large-scale mines.... Read More

Appreciated in Western markets for their nutritional properties, Brazil nuts are mostly collected in Bolivia in hazardous work conditions between November and May every year.... Read More

The next few months are threatening to be stormy for Argentina, which faces a currency meltdown, rising inflation, a partial default, and deepening recession.... Read More

Inbound tourism to Brazil could be described as a goose that lays golden eggs for the wider economy.... Read More

The Brazilian government’s fiscal game plan requires it to achieve two things this year: pension and tax reform.... Read More

At a relatively slow pace Latin America will begin to switch its mobile networks to 5G, with the new technology expected to spread in 2020-2025 to the big markets in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina.... Read More

... Read More

On 8 September, Finance Minister Arturo Herrera presented the first budget since President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office last December.... Read More

Mexico’s central bank (Banxico) started easing monetary policy in mid-August after five years of keeping interest rates on hold.... Read More

Following hot on the heels of a planned cash injection in the 2020 budget, the state oil firm Pemex has issued new bonds, using the proceeds to buy back shorter-term and more expensive debt.... Read More

In the past month, there have been several announcements of fresh foreign investment in new tech start-ups in Mexico, auguring well for the future of the emerging fintech sector.... Read More

In the context of a growth in extractive and energy projects in Central America which have implications for indigenous territory, attacks on defenders of land, environmental and indigenous peoples’ rights have drastically increased in recent years, and new legislation to protect them is becoming key to overcoming the level of impunity under which this violence occurs.... Read More

In late July the Guatemala-based think tank Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (Icefi) issued a report decrying the poor performance of tax revenue accumulation across the region in the first half of 2019.... Read More