Economy & Business - August 2021

Mexico’s national commission for the evaluation of social policy (Coneval), that federal government body that is responsible for measuring poverty and the effects that social policies have on its incidence, published a new report on 12 July analysing the impact that the government’s social policies adopted to mitigate recent disasters, in particular, the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

On 20 July – Colombia’s Independence Day – the Colombian government formally presented a revised version of its tax reform bill to congress, three months after the first iteration sparked widespread protests [EB-21-06].... Read More

In the two months since Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso took office in late May, the issue of price controls for basic goods has emerged as the most likely source of conflict between his government and various civil society groups.... Read More

In a move described as “historic” by Peru’s former housing, construction & sanitation minister, Solangel Fernández (2020-2021), on 14 July the government approved the national housing and urbanism policy, designed to tackle the Andean country’s longstanding shortage of adequate homes.... Read More

ECUADOR | Import tariff reductions.... Read More

Until recently economists worried that, held back by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, aggregate demand in the Brazilian economy has been too low.... Read More

In a long-awaited report published on 19 July, Camilo Benítez, Paraguay’s comptroller general (CGR), said Brazil had manipulated the finances of the jointly operated Itaipú hydroelectric complex, generating an “illegal” debt of US$4.19bn.... Read More

There are various possible scenarios for Argentina’s immediate economic future.... Read More

Chilean residents with privately managed pension funds are likely to be authorised – for the fourth time running – to withdraw part of their pension savings.... Read More

A virtual summit of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) members’ heads of state (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) failed to resolve the deadlock over proposals to reduce the regional trade bloc’s common external tariff and allow a more flexible approach to trade deals.... Read More

BRAZIL | Foreign investment.... Read More

On 7 July Honduras and Nicaragua suffered a total blackout, the latest in a series of serious problems that have affected regional electricity distribution.... Read More

A growing coalition of civil society groups is mobilising against so-called ‘employment and economic development zones’ (Zedes) promoted by the government led by President Juan Orlando Hernández.... Read More

The 2021 World Investment Report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) makes bleak reading for the Caribbean and most particularly for Trinidad & Tobago.... Read More

At the beginning of August, John Rolle, the governor of The Bahamas’ central bank said that The Bahamas began a slow recovery in the first half of 2021.... Read More

COSTA RICA | IMF loan approved.... Read More

International credit ratings agency, Moody’s Investors Service, lowered its rating of Mexico’s state-owned oil firm, Pemex, from ‘Ba2’ to ‘Ba3’ on 27 July.... Read More

In a 2 July interview with Spanish daily, El País, Mexico’s former finance minister Carlos Manuel Urzúa (2018-2019) highlighted that one of the most significant problems that governments in Mexico face at present –both at the federal and state level- is a lack of funds because tax revenue is only around 14.5% of GDP.... Read More

The Mexican press reported on 8 July that the Mexican and US authorities had reached an agreement over the reparations to be offered to make up for the labour rights violations denounced at a General Motors (GM) automobile assembly plant in Mexico’s Guanajuato state.... Read More

MEXICO| GDP growth.... Read More