Economy & Business - April 2021

Mexico’s finance ministry (SHCP) on 31 March updated its economic growth forecast ahead of its 2022 budget proposal.... Read More

In 2020, Ecuador’s national poverty rate by income grew by seven percentage points to 32.4%, a level not seen since 2010, while extreme poverty increased by six percentage points to just under 15%.... Read More

According to statistics compiled by the Peruvian chamber of electronic commerce (Capece), the e-commerce sector grew by 50% in Peru in 2020, recording sales of US$6bn.... Read More

On 11 February, Canadian energy company, Plateau Energy, announced that it had reached an agreement to sell its interests in both lithium and uranium deposits in the Peruvian altiplano to Canada-based American Lithium.... Read More

BOLIVIA | ‘Wealth tax’ exceeds expectations.... Read More

AF, a Uruguayan company which administers forestry assets, said on 16 March that it had sold carbon bonds totalling 210,000 tonnes (t) of CO2 to two European-based buyers.... Read More

The Brazilian economy contracted by 4.1% last year, one of the better results in a continent ravaged by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

The government led by President Alberto Fernández has delayed a rescheduling of Argentina’s US$44bn debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) until after the October congressional elections.... Read More

The four members of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay – marked the thirtieth anniversary of the regional trade bloc with an argument over whether, and how, they should flexibilise trade agreements with other countries.           ... Read More

Pensions are likely to be at the centre of the Chilean political debate for the rest of this year.... Read More

PARAGUAY | Infrastructure project postponed for pandemic funds.... Read More

In a Country Focus briefing released on 12 March, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned: “Much the same as some patients could suffer from lingering illnesses long after the coronavirus [Covid-19] infection has passed, the pandemic’s economic fallout might be felt in the [Caribbean] region long after the health emergency is controlled”.... Read More

Nuevas Ideas (NI), the party of President Nayib Bukele, will have an unprecedented two-thirds majority in the 84-member national assembly following the 28 February legislative elections, but Bukele’s economic plans could be constrained by the country’s precarious economic situation.... Read More

Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo and his government are sailing in choppy waters as international credit ratings agencies, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, both downgrade the country, and the private sector lobby raises concerns over the handling of the economy in response to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

COSTA RICA | Exports on the road to recovery.... Read More

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent to Mexico’s federal congress, on 26 March, a bill that seeks to amend the hydrocarbons law to restrict the role of private sector players in the petrol fuels market- where the state-owned oil firm, Pemex, has lost ground, particularly regarding the import of petrol and diesel - since the sector was liberalised by the 2013-2014 energy reform.... Read More

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on 5 April announced that his government had reached an agreement with business organisations and labour unions regarding outsourcing regulations, which were first proposed in November 2020.... Read More

MEXICO | Pension reform.... Read More