LatinNews Daily - 16 April 2020

On 15 April, Brazil’s supreme court (STF) ruled that states and municipalities have the authority to implement isolation and quarantine measures during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, rendering ineffective President Jair Bolsonaro’s threat that he might seek to override such containment efforts through a presidential decree.   ... Read More

On 15 April, Ecuador’s Economy & Finance Minister Richard Martínez was questioned by the national assembly (AN) over the government’s latest emergency economic measures, and reached an agreement to hold formal negotiations with the legislature to deliver a collaborative solution.... Read More

* Colombia’s state-owned oil company, Ecopetrol, has announced plans to take out US$1.075bn in loans to maintain liquidity during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

* Brazil’s Confederação Nacional das Indústrias (CNI), a private sector lobby, has released the results of its measure of business confidence in the industrial sector (Icei) for April, showing business confidence is at its lowest point since the series began in January 2010.... Read More

On 15 April Honduras’s attorney general’s office (AG) announced an investigation into government procurements undertaken to address the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

* Guatemala’s economy minister, Antonio Malouf, has said that despite the negative forecast from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding the country's GDP growth this year due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the Guatemalan government is nonetheless hoping for positive GDP growth.... Read More

On 15 April the head of Mexico’s finance ministry (SHCP), Arturo Herrera, said that the government needs to implement more economic stimulus measures to counteract the effects of the global economic crisis produced by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

* International ratings agency Fitch Ratings has downgraded Mexico’s Long-Term Foreign Currency Issue Default Rating (IDR) from ‘BBB’ to ‘BBB-’ with a ‘stable’ outlook.... Read More

On 16 April Argentina’s foreign and health ministers Felipe Solá and Ginés González held a video conference with their Chilean counterparts Teodoro Ribera and Jaime Mañalich to discuss the countries’ respective coronavirus (Covid-19) strategies.... Read More

* According to Argentina’s national statistics institute (Indec), the country registered monthly inflation of 3.3% in March.... Read More