Economy & Business - October 2024

Argentines have a deep-seated distrust in the banking sector, fuelled by a history of traumatic experiences with devaluations and account freezes – not least the December 2001 ‘corralito’, when the freezing of US dollar accounts following a persistent recession triggered violent protests, the downfall of the economy minister and president, and years of social unrest and instability.... Read More

The political fallout from Venezuela’s disputed 28 July presidential election was massive.... Read More

The credit ratings agency Moody’s announced on 20 September that it had raised its outlook for Peru from negative to stable, although it maintained the country’s credit rating at Baa1 for both foreign and local currency debt, signifying “moderate credit risk”.... Read More

Ecuador’s ongoing energy crisis has been further exacerbated with the announcement on 19 September that Colombia was suspending energy exports to its neighbour.... Read More

ECUADOR | GDP shrinks in Q2.... Read More

Even before Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in January of last year he was bashing the central bank’s hawkish monetary policy under its president, Roberto Campos Neto.... Read More

The government of President Gabriel Boric has been scrambling to contain a social and economic calamity in the Biobío region after Chile’s largest steelmaker, Compañía Siderúrgica Huachipato (CSH), shut down on 16 September.... Read More

Back in 2019, tech giant Google announced plans to build a data centre in the metropolitan area of Chile’s capital Santiago.... Read More

BRAZIL | Electricity tariff raised amid drought.... Read More

On 12 August El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced that Turkish firm Yilport will invest US$1.6bn as part of a deal to expand two ports in the country.... Read More

Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino is forging ahead with plans to overhaul the state social security system Caja de Seguro Social (CSS), which is running a huge deficit and providing poor service to patients.... Read More

Suriname is launching the world’s first sovereign carbon credit issuance under rules set up by the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.... Read More

Guyana’s oil-and-gas fuelled economic boom is still in full swing, with first half GDP growth reaching a massive 49.7% compared to the same period last year.... Read More

COSTA RICA | FDI up.... Read More

Mexico’s auto industry is going from strength to strength, but a possible tariff war between the US and China could bring the party to an end.... Read More

Just-sworn-in President Claudia Sheinbaum has inherited Mexico’s biggest budget black hole since the 1980s, at an expected 5.9% of GDP this year.... Read More

Two days after taking office President Claudia Sheinbaum announced a package of reforms designed to strengthen women’s rights and tackle gender-based violence.... Read More

On 19 September the Mexican government said it would seek to strike down an arbitration award to US firm Odyssey Marine Exploration in a dispute over a seabed mining project in waters off Baja California Sur state.... Read More

MEXICO | International tourism up.... Read More