Economy & Business - May 2025

President Daniel Noboa won his re-election bid in April with a wider-than-expected margin of 11 percentage points over his left-wing challenger Luisa González.... Read More

On 28 April Bolivia’s president Luis Arce confirmed that his government had decided to increase the national minimum wage by 10% from B$2,500 (US$360) to B$ 2,750 (US$398) per month.... Read More

Venezuela’s economy was already showing signs of fatigue at President Nicolás Maduro’s inauguration ceremony in January but has since deteriorated more quickly than most analysts had expected.... Read More

COLOMBIA | GDP bounce.... Read More

President Javier Milei’s attempt to fix Argentina’s notoriously crisis-prone economy has entered yet another decisive phase as he lifted currency and capital controls in April, backed by a sizeable financing package led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).... Read More

When the centre-right government of President Michel Temer (2016-2019) pushed a sweeping labour reform through congress eight years ago, Brazil’s business leaders rejoiced over the prospect of legislation doing away with endless labour disputes in court.... Read More

The green light from Chile’s antitrust regulator for the tie-up between lithium producer SQM and state-owned copper giant Codelco is a major step for President Gabriel Boric to heighten state control over the burgeoning white metal industry.... Read More

BRAZIL | Former central bank chief to join Nubank.... Read More

Tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on 2 April on all imported foreign goods have set alarm bells ringing throughout Central America, with key economic sectors likely to be negatively affected.... Read More

On 23 April leading teachers’ union Asociación de Profesores (Asoprof) began strike action in protest against Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino’s controversial reform of the social security system (CSS) – protests which other unions have since joined.... Read More

A new report from international charity Oxfam has found that tax evasion costs Central American governments a combined US$17.5bn per year.... Read More

At one level the economic outlook for the Caribbean this year is “business as usual”: supported by recovering tourism and remittances, the sub-region will see growth above the Latin American average, coupled with a degree of price stability.... Read More

In an extended interview with Granma, Cuba’s state-controlled newspaper, published in late March, Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy explained what is being done to restore power supply across the island.... Read More

Excelerate Energy of Texas, a liquid natural gas (LNG) producer, announced in April that it had agreed to pay US$1.05bn to acquire the Jamaican assets of New Fortress Energy.... Read More

HONDURAS | New staff-level agreement reached with IMF.... Read More

Mexico and the US have engaged in two agriculture-related disputes in the last month.... Read More

When US President Donald Trump threatened Mexico last month with sanctions for failing to comply with a 1944 water treaty between the two countries – as well as actually halting water supplies to Tijuana – the country’s water crisis suddenly acquired even more urgent dimensions.... Read More

Mexico dodged a bullet when first quarter GDP data showed that it had narrowly avoided slipping into the technical recession that many had feared due to US President Donald Trump’s global tariff onslaught, as well as ongoing domestic concerns.... Read More

MEXICO | Banxico continues to lower interest rate.... Read More