Economy & Business - April 2020

As they buckle under the combined effects of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the gathering global economic recession, and a slump in commodity prices, Latin American countries are all scrambling to launch countercyclical fiscal measures.... Read More

Following six consecutive years of GDP contraction (2014-2019), in the midst of a pandemic, and with the price of oil hitting its lowest mark in the last 30 years, Venezuela is in urgent need of cash.... Read More

The great symbolic gesture of the start of the administration of former president Evo Morales (2006-2019) back in 2006 was the 1 May nationalisation of Bolivia’s oil and gas reserves, which had been sold into private ownership in 1996.... Read More

In February, US President Donald Trump said that the US will enter into trade agreement negotiations with Ecuador, during a joint press conference in Washington DC with his Ecuadorean counterpart, President Lenín Moreno.... Read More

PERU | Economic stimulus.... Read More

There is a long-standing narrative that Argentina will be saved from its economic travails by the development of the ‘Vaca Muerta’ (‘dead cow’) shale oil and gas fields in Patagonia.... Read More

Abruptly falling energy demand, record low international oil and gas prices, and pandemic-related financial turbulence are all delivering a serious blow to Brazil’s hydrocarbons sector.... Read More

URUGUAY| Government sets up ‘coronavirus fund’.... Read More

Central American economies generally have high rates of labour market informality, which makes it more difficult for states to handle pandemics such as the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.... Read More

Amid the current coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, a global economic recession seems inescapable.... Read More

PANAMA | Biggest mine closes.... Read More

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced on 5 April his government’s plans to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

In an interview published by construction sector magazine Obras Expansión on 23 March, the chairman of the Mexican chamber of the construction industry (CMIC), Eduardo Ramírez Leal, emphasised that it is imperative to establish long term infrastructure development goals, rather than six-year-long plans that coincide with a presidential term.... Read More

Mexico’s deputy interior minister, Diana Álvarez, announced on 23 March that the national water commission (Conagua) would not issue the relevant permits to US brewer Constellation Brands to continue building a new beer plant in the city of Mexicali, Baja California state.... Read More

USMCA ratification: On 15 March Mexico’s President Manuel López Obrador welcomed Canada’s ratification of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).... Read More