Economy & Business - April 2024

Peru’s President Dina Boluarte has carried out three cabinet reshuffles in as many months.... Read More

US sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gas industry, which were loosened last October as an incentive for President Nicolás Maduro to hold free and fair elections this year, were slapped back on by Washington on 18 April, on the grounds that the Bolivarian government had not kept its half of the bargain by cracking down on prominent opposition candidates.... Read More

Colombia’s political risk has ratcheted up a notch in recent months.... Read More

PERU | Approving new mining exploration projects. On 26 March Jorge Soto, the director general of the mining directorate at Peru’s mining & energy ministry (Minem), announced that the government is aiming to approve three exploration projects every month as it bids to boost investment in the industry.... Read More

If there had been any hope left at all for a trade accord between the European Union (EU) and South America’s Mercosur bloc (comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia), the recent statements by French President Emmanuel Macron seem to have buried that idea for good.... Read More

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was so upset when his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023) privatised state-owned companies such as electricity firm Eletrobras and fuel distributor BR Distribuidora, that he threatened to undo the sales if he ever made it back to power.... Read More

President Javier Milei’s bid to fix Latin America’s third-largest economy is a race to see if his shock therapy can produce results before Argentinians run out of patience.... Read More

ARGENTINA| HSBC to sell its banking operations.... Read More

Gisela Sánchez, the new head of the Central American development bank (BCIE), has said that she will rebalance its portfolio by ending loans to Nicaragua and El Salvador.... Read More

Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arévalo and other top officials have held a series of meetings with US counterparts in recent weeks, underlining the strength of ties with Washington and setting out economic priorities for his time in office.... Read More

Two developments on 27 March reinforce a positive economic outlook for the Dominican Republic this year.... Read More

A new United Nations (UN) report focuses on The Bahamas as an example of the growing financial cost of climate change and health pandemics.... Read More

Total stay-over tourist arrivals in the Caribbean rose by 14.3% or 4m visitors in 2023, to reach 32.2m, according to data collected by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), with signs that growth is continuing in 2024.... Read More

COSTA RICA | Fall in unemployment.... Read More

A big political battle is underway in Mexico to choose the next president.... Read More

This year is unusual because both Mexico and the US will hold presidential elections (Mexico in June, the US in November).... Read More

Mexico received more visitors in January this year than in the same month of 2023 despite the appreciation of the peso and concerns over insecurity.... Read More

Mexican officials have criticised the introduction of new US food label claims which they say are “discriminatory” to Mexican products.... Read More

MEXICO | Inflation edges up.... Read More