Latin American Economy & Business
Economy & Business - July 2021
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- EL SALVADOR: El Salvador’s bitcoin adventure raises concerns
ANDEAN COUNTRIES
- REGION: Exporting countries hit hard by fall in FDI
- COLOMBIA: Counting the costs of weeks of protests
- COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA: Border closure drives growth in illicit trade
- ECUADOR: Lasso’s planned tax reform likely to be diluted
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
BRAZIL & SOUTHERN CONE
- BRAZIL: Green light for Eletrobras privatisation
- ARGENTINA: Payments default postponed (again)
- ARGENTINA: Signs of recovery – but will they last?
- PARAGUAY: Back on a growth path
- URUGUAY: Small country, big unicorn
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
- REGION: Development plan aims to improve connections with southern Mexico
- REGION: Mottley renews her call for debt relief, others look for reform
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
- REGION: Mottley renews her call for debt relief, others look for reform
MEXICO
- MEXICO: Complaints over labour conditions in Mexico mar USMCA anniversary
- MEXICO: Banxico decision to raise interest rates highlights inflation concerns
- MEXICO: Lithium production remains unlikely despite official efforts to boost it
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
President Nayib Bukele is moving ahead with plans to make the cryptocurrency, bitcoin, legal tender in El Salvador despite concerns at home and abroad.
Economy & Business - June 2021
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- Colombia loses investment grade with S&P
ANDEAN COUNTRIES
- PERU: Pension reform rises up the political agenda
- ECUADOR: Lasso faces political tightrope away from state-led development
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
BRAZIL & SOUTHERN CONE
- CHILE: Uncertainty over constituent assembly
- BRAZIL: Central bank thinks digital currency
- BRAZIL: Bus company takes flight
- URUGUAY: IMF praises policies, but Covid flare-up poses challenges
- REGION: Brazil, Argentina, and Chile are leading the wind power race
- ARGENTINA: Where’s the beef?
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
- CENTRAL AMERICA: Regional leaders emphasise importance of energy transition
- GUATEMALA: Controversial free trade zone reform approved
- THE BAHAMAS: Economic recovery at the mercy of politics
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
MEXICO
- MEXICO: Concerns over cost and potential success of refinery purchase
- MEXICO: Markets react positively to new Banxico and SHCP appointees
- MEXICO: Downgrading of air safety rating will complicate airlines’ recovery
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
On 19 May, international credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) announced that it had downgraded Colombia’s credit rating from ‘BBB-’ to ‘BB+’, placing it below investment grade for the first time in over ten years.
Economy & Business - May 2021
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- Brazil’s budget deal is made for breaking
ANDEAN COUNTRIES
- VENEZUELA: Agriculture lobbies warn of consequences of fuel shortages
- ECUADOR: Lasso’s proposed economic agenda likely to face pushback
- COLOMBIA: Committed to reviving the ‘orange economy’
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
BRAZIL & SOUTHERN CONE
- BRAZIL: Cedae auction signals privatisations still on the agenda
- CHILE: IMF sounds an approving note
- PARAGUAY: Omega Green works set to start later this year
- ARGENTINA: Internal tensions over electricity subsidies
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
- CENTRAL AMERICA: Poverty rises due to economic impact of pandemic
- REGION: Coffee farmers in need of assistance despite rising prices
- BELIZE: The honeymoon is over
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
MEXICO
- MEXICO: Cautious optimism despite negative GDP figures
- MEXICO: Increased auto production and exports despite input shortages
- MEXICO: Disappointing job recovery marked by precariousness, inequality
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
On 22 April, the deadline for final approval of this year’s federal government budget, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro appeared to have squared the circle, signing off on a budget bill which preserves a constitutional spending cap while at the same time spreading enough money around to keep the so-called ‘centrão’ group of political parties happy, and on-side with his government.
Economy & Business - April 2021
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- Mexico raises economic growth forecast, but recovery remains slow
ANDEAN COUNTRIES
- ECUADOR: Pandemic deals major blow to poverty reduction progress
- REGION: Pandemic drives surge in e-commerce across the Andean region
- PERU: Peru announces sale of lithium deposits
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
BRAZIL & SOUTHERN CONE
- URUGUAY: There is carbon in those trees
- BRAZIL: The virus is undermining the recovery
- ARGENTINA: Doing the dance with the IMF
- REGION: Mercosur’s unhappy 30th birthday
- CHILE: Pension dispute intensifies
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
- REGION: Caribbean faces long-haul recovery
- EL SALVADOR: Bukele faces financial constraints
- PANAMA: Disquiet at home and abroad over economic outlook
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
MEXICO
- MEXICO: Reform of hydrocarbons law will only benefit Pemex
- MEXICO: Agreement over changes to outsourcing will mitigate their impact
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
Mexico’s finance ministry (SHCP) on 31 March updated its economic growth forecast ahead of its 2022 budget proposal.
Economy & Business - March 2021
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- Costa Rica tops regional ranking for e-commerce readiness
ANDEAN COUNTRIES
- ECUADOR: An uphill struggle to increase oil production
- PERU/COLOMBIA: Cautious hopes for economic recovery
- BOLIVIA: Government announces discovery of major new gas well
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
BRAZIL & SOUTHERN CONE
- BRAZIL: Bolsonaro moves Petrobras goalposts
- CHILE: Economic recovery in sight?
- ARGENTINA: Time to improve the Hidrovía
- URUGUAY: Slight hitch on the road to recovery?
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
- GUATEMALA: Seeking to boost exports and FDI
- JAMAICA : Sets course for recovery
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
MEXICO
- MEXICO: Arbitration request points to worsening of investment conditions
- MEXICO: Social policy programmes fail to mitigate increase in poverty
- MEXICO: Audit report shows widespread irregularities in public accounts
- MEXICO: Pemex’s 2020 results point to worsening situation
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) has ranked Costa Rica first in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) for preparedness to support online shopping.
Economy & Business - February 2021
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- Ecuador’s mining industry at a crossroads
ANDEAN COUNTRIES
- VENEZUELA: Maduro eyes digital economy in response to hyperinflation
- PERU: Wind power reaches the sierra
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
BRAZIL & SOUTHERN CONE
- BRAZIL: Looking for a rare earth revolution
- BRAZIL: Stop dancing in the streets
- ARGENTINA: YPF faces financial squeeze
- ARGENTINA: ‘Wealth tax’ comes into force
- PARAGUAY: The call of the Peoples’ Republic
- CHILE: Moving beyond fossil fuel
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
- REGION: Campaigns target visitors following dire year for tourism
- COSTA RICA: Alvarado pins hopes on IMF deal
- THE BAHAMAS: Mixed feelings over oil search failure
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
MEXICO
- MEXICO: Growth forecast will not offset 2020 contraction
- MEXICO: Electricity reform plans deepen investors’ concerns
- MEXICO: Alternative plan may avoid Banxico reform
- MEXICO: Semiconductors shortage undermines auto production
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
Ecuador’s mining sector grew substantially in 2020, albeit from a low base, as large-scale mining production accelerated rapidly after being launched in late 2019.
Economy & Business - January 2021
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- Argentina’s policy zig-zags cloud investor outlook for 2021
ANDEAN COUNTRIES
- ECUADOR: Progress made in US trade talks
- PERU: Agrarian law stirs controversy
- COLOMBIA: Cerrejón cuts a deal with striking miners
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
BRAZIL & SOUTHERN CONE
- BRAZIL: The vaccine is not an economic silver bullet
- URUGUAY: No longer the pandemic poster boy
- REGION: A six-month window for a Mercosur-EU deal?
- CHILE: Finance minister blasts SQM
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
- REGION: Struggles to rebuild after Hurricanes Eta and Iota
- REGION: Multinational telecoms firms drive FDI
- TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Pressure on central bank to help recovery
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
MEXICO
- MEXICO: Pension reform welcome but concerns remain
- MEXICO: More Chinese involvement in railway projects
- MEXICO: Mexican airlines at risk of collapse
- ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
The Argentine government led by President Alberto Fernández completed the first of its four years in office on 10 December 2020.