Economy & Business - October 2020

Despite its relatively low profile following an official launch in December 2019, US-backed regional infrastructure investment plan ‘América Crece’ (‘Growth in the Americas’) has gained considerable momentum in recent months.... Read More

Peru’s energy & mines ministry (Minem) offered further details in September on four high-profile mining projects, worth a total of US$8.4bn, that are due to provide a boost to the country’s economy in the coming years.... Read More

The crash in international oil prices caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic provided a glimpse into a not-too-distant future in which Ecuador’s prize export can no longer generate the income it once did.... Read More

VENEZUELA | Sanction solutions.... Read More

It took almost 20 years to negotiate but the European Union (EU) trade deal with the South Common Market (Mercosur) trade bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) could now collapse at the final hurdle – ratification by the respective legislatures.... Read More

While the rest of the economy struggles with the downturn resulting from the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, Brazil’s agricultural sector continues to register strong growth.... Read More

Chile’s Falabella retail chain, Germany’s BASF chemicals, and France’s pharmaceuticals group Pierre Fabre have all taken the decision to leave Argentina.... Read More

After 11 years and billions of US dollars, Canada’s Barrick Gold mining company has had to accept that its Pascua Lama gold project has hit a red stop sign.... Read More

The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has led to a big boost in online sales, taking e-commerce penetration in Chile’s retail sector up to near-European levels.... Read More

PARAGUAY | Warnings from air travel sector.... Read More

Nicaragua is an outlier in terms of its response to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, with President Daniel Ortega opting not to shut down the national market in an unsuccessful bid to stave off further damage to the domestic economy.... Read More

The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has accelerated many economic changes that were already under way, and the development of ecommerce in Central America is one example.... Read More

The government of Trinidad & Tobago has been taking a long, hard look at the shape of the country’s economy and how it can best recover from the depredations of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, which it says has “laid bare several weaknesses of the economy and society”.... Read More

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | Straining to resurrect tourism sector.... Read More

The government led by Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador submitted its 2021 budget proposal to the federal congress on 8 September.... Read More

The Mexican press reported on 5 October that according to the investment unit at the finance ministry (SHCP), the cost of the ‘Tren Maya’ railway project that will run around the Yucatan peninsula is running at M$321.39bn (US$15bn), almost M$17.5bn more than the estimates made in January.... Read More

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed to have delivered another of his campaign promises after on 15 September his government held the ‘raffle of the presidential plane’.... Read More

Interest rate cuts: On 24 September Mexico’s central bank (Banxico) reduced its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.25%.... Read More