Economy & Business - November 2025

Running the data centres that operate artificial intelligence (AI) requires so much energy that the US struggle to provide it as fast as the big tech companies would like.... Read More

A month-long protest campaign by Ecuador’s umbrella indigenous organisation Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (Conaie) from 22 September-22 October over diesel subsidy cuts caused US$300m in economic damages, resulted in three deaths, and paralysed parts of the country.... Read More

In the 19 October second round of Bolivia’s presidential election, the centre-right Rodrigo Paz received 54.96% of the vote to defeat his right-wing rival, former president Jorge Quiroga (2001-2002).... Read More

COLOMBIA | Interest rate held as inflation persists.... Read More

The inauguration in October of a new assembly plant in Brazil by Chinese car manufacturer BYD drew particular interest from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, given that creating jobs and showcasing foreign investment are a perfect backdrop for his re-election campaign next year.... Read More

When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was first elected as president of Brazil in 2002, he took his cabinet-to-be on a tour to see the harsh living conditions of people in the impoverished northeast, and particularly of their precarious housing.... Read More

Argentina’s state-controlled energy company YPF on 10 October finalised a technical agreement with Italian oil giant Eni that marks a milestone in what is to become the country’s largest project to export liquified natural gas (LNG).... Read More

BRAZIL | Energy legislation to benefit consumers and renewables.... Read More

On 2 October the Central America Tourism Agency (Cata), a non-profit international organisation that brings together tourism authorities from Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panamá and the Dominican Republic, launched a new marketing strategy that aims to boost visitor numbers by presenting the seven countries that it promotes as a single, connected destination.... Read More

On 9 October lawmakers unanimously approved a bill which ratifies an economic agreement between Panama and South American trading bloc Mercosur that will see Panama join as an associate member.... Read More

The number of Salvadoreans living in extreme poverty increased from 588,917 to 610,272 year-on-year from 2023-2024, equivalent to a 3.63% increase, according to statistics from the national bank (BCR).... Read More

Trinidad & Tobago’s finance minister, Davendranath Tancoo, part of the new United National Congress (UNC) government that took office in May, unveiled the fiscal 2026 budget in October, amid some criticism that revenue targets are over-optimistic.... Read More

Amid Haiti’s continuing political and security crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued what it calls an “encouraging” review of its staff-monitored programme (SMP) conducted with the country’s authorities.... Read More

It is now almost five years since the Caribbean Community (Caricom) endorsed the ‘Vision 25 by 2025’ programme (also known as 25x25): a commitment to reduce the region’s large food import bill by 25% by the year 2025.... Read More

PANAMA | Arbitration victory.... Read More

US multinational bank and financial services corporation Citigroup Inc slammed the door on the prospect of a direct sale of its Mexican retail bank Grupo Financiero Banamex when it rejected an unsolicited US$9.3bn bid from conglomerate Grupo México in early October.... Read More

The recent killing of Bernardo Bravo Manríquez, president of the Asociación de Citricultores del Valle de Apatzingán (ACVA), a lime growers’ association in Michoacán state, offered a bleak reminder of the economic toll that systematic extortion by organised crime is inflicting on Mexico’s agricultural sector.... Read More

Heavy rains hit central and eastern Mexico in early October, killing at least 80 people and leaving a trail of destruction that will have severe economic impacts on local communities and households that now face the prospect of trying to rebuild their lives.... Read More

MEXICO | Banxico cuts interest rate again.... Read More