LatinNews Regional Monitor: Brazil & Southern Cone - 14 April 2020

On 13 April, Brazil’s federal chamber of deputies voted in favour of a bill providing further financial assistance to states and municipalities, as they struggle to respond to the effects of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. ... Read More

* The World Bank (WB) has released its latest report on Latin America and the Caribbean, entitled ‘The Economy in the Time of Covid-19 [coronavirus]’, in which it forecasts that Brazil will see a 5% contraction in its GDP this year.... Read More

On 12 April Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera reaffirmed his decision not to apply a nationwide quarantine to combat the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, maintaining that such measures would be “unsustainable”.... Read More

* The latest economic expectations survey of local economists, released by Chile’s central bank (BCCh), has forecast that the country’s GDP will contract by 2.2% in 2020.... Read More

Despite gaining initial support for its measured response to the coronavirus (Covid-19) health crisis, the government led by President Alberto Fernández has run into trouble in two areas: its treatment of pensioners and emergency food distribution.... Read More

Chile has transitioned abruptly from a social and political crisis – the six months of anti-government protests that started last October – to a health crisis – the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic that started this March and has forced a series of lockdown measures as the authorities try to limit the spread of the deadly virus.... Read More

As Brazil’s public health emergency is intensifying, the government has also been facing criticisms over its lagging response to the economic impacts of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

ARGENTINA | Debt crisis rolls on.... Read More