LatinNews Daily - 19 August 2026

*Chile’s central bank (BCCh) has announced that Chile’s economic activity fell by 0.2% in the second quarter of 2026, as compared to the second quarter of 2025. It said this result was due to the fall in exports and in large part to mining activity which was down 6.4% year-on-year while non-mining activity was up 0.7%. The Q2 result followed a 0.3% contraction in Q1 on the latest results, while GDP was up 1.6% in the final quarter of 2025, and 1.7% in the third quarter. In seasonally adjusted terms, there was no change in GDP growth compared with the previous quarter, while there was a quarterly contraction of 0.3% in Q1 2026, a 0.4% quarterly rise in Q4 2025, and a 0.4% quarterly contraction in Q3 2025. The latest result is a blow to Chile’s President José Antonio Kast who is pledging to boost investment and job creation, and who recently claimed a victory with the approval by the bicameral congress of his flagship mega reform, known as the ‘reconstruction and economic and social development’ bill, the final article of which was approved this month. Bloomberg, which described the latest quarterly result as unexpected, reported that Chile’s peso fell 0.6% in morning trading yesterday after the GDP report came out, leading losses among all emerging-market currencies that it tracks.

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