Economy & Business - November 2024

Mexico’s controversial energy reforms are continuing full steam ahead after being approved by congress in October in a drive to strengthen state control over the sector and protect energy sovereignty.... Read More

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro had hoped to showcase a more peaceful and prosperous country on the path to socio-economic equality and environmental sustainability as it hosted the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in late October.... Read More

In late September, Bolivia’s state hydrocarbons company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) announced that the country had ceased exporting natural gas to Argentina, ending an arrangement that began in the 1970s and had been strengthened by a contract initially signed in 2006 for a period of twenty years.... Read More

In September, artisanal fishing associations in the north of Peru warned that a shortage of Humboldt squid (the most important type of squid worldwide for commercial fisheries) was due to the incursion of Chinese fishing boats into Peruvian territory.... Read More

ECUADOR | New energy law approved by congress.... Read More

President Javier Milei may be facing noisy discontent from protesters at home, but judging by the price that Argentine bonds command on global financial markets investors believe his shock therapy is working.... Read More

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric in October presented a long-awaited legislative proposal that grants a partial write-off on student loans and introduces a new public system of financing higher education.... Read More

Nearly halfway through President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s four-year term, Brazil’s economy is humming along at a better-than-expected 3% pace and unemployment is at its lowest level in about a decade.... Read More

The administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil has launched a regulatory crackdown on online betting sites, including some that sponsor the country’s most famous football clubs.... Read More

PARAGUAY | New universal pensions law.... Read More

Migrants are on course to send home a record-breaking amount of remittances to Nicaragua this year, with money sent home providing an economic lifeline to many families and helping to shore up the government’s financial position.... Read More

On 10 October the US embassy in San José referred to Costa Rica as a “silicon rainforest” in a Facebook post explaining the semiconductor supply chain, as the two nations step up nearshoring efforts in the industry.... Read More

On 19 October President Luis Abinader, who took office again mid-August following a landslide victory in May, dropped a small bombshell.... Read More

PANAMA | Panama Canal posts revenue growth despite drought.... Read More

Mexico’s mining industry is facing a plunge in private investment by as much as US$1.2bn next year alone as the sector grapples with uncertainty over future rules and regulations after a new government took power in October.... Read More

In October, President Claudia Sheinbaum released details of a massive house building programme that aims to provide 1m new homes, fleshing out a key campaign promise.... Read More

Developing passenger rail services has emerged as an early focus of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s time in office, with the announcement of various new lines and the passing of a constitutional amendment declaring it a strategic priority.... Read More

MEXICO | Headline inflation up while core rate slows.... Read More