Economy & Business - September 2021

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo’s naming of radical figures from the far-left Perú Libre party in his new cabinet on 29 July sent jitters across financial markets that were only partially eased by his appointment of the moderate Pedro Francke as finance minister a few days later.... Read More

Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso issued Executive Decree 151 on 5 August, outlining the government’s “Action Plan for the Mining Sector”.... Read More

Venezuela’s central bank (BCV) announced on 5 August that when a new digital currency – the ‘bolívar digital’ – comes into force in the country on 1 October, it will be revalued to a new, simplified scale.... Read More

A ceremony was held on 27 July to mark the first pouring of concrete at a 15-hectare nuclear technology research and development centre (CNTRD) in the city of El Alto in Bolivia’s La Paz department.... Read More

ANDEAN COMMUNITY | Cooperation agreement with EEU.... Read More

Argentina’s economic future over the next two years, 2022 and 2023, is likely to be determined by the interplay of at least three factors: first the strength and duration of the current recovery; second, the results of the congressional mid-term elections due in November; and, third, the renegotiation of the country’s debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).... Read More

At the end of August, Angra 3, Brazil’s half-built and long-delayed third nuclear plant, got a green ‘resume construction’ light from state-owned power company Eletronuclear, which said it was allocating US$1.14bn worth of investment in the facility for the 2020-2023 period, in the expectation that it would come onstream by 2026.... Read More

Brazilian politics has remained volatile and confrontational over the last month, and there are signs that, along with other factors, this is dampening down the pace of the country’s economic recovery.... Read More

In August, officials from Argentina and Brazil were reported to be involved in talks on building a pipeline to pump gas from Argentina’s shale gas deposits in Patagonia back to Brazil.... Read More

The business climate across Latin America is improving, and Paraguay is doing best of all, according to a report published by the Brazilian university and think-tank Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV).... Read More

As a small economy with limited natural resources and generally high levels of educational qualifications, Uruguay is showing interest in developing the ‘knowledge economy’.... Read More

CHILE | Monetary tightening continues.... Read More

Gold became Nicaragua’s most valuable export in 2020 thanks to production growth and rising prices, but experts worry about the effects on the economy when commodities enter a downward cycle.... Read More

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play an important role in developing economies, and a series of regional initiatives in Central America are seeking to improve their prospects following the shock of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

The countries of the Caribbean have fared reasonably well with regard to the public-health consequences of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, with persistently much lower death rates in the Caribbean than, for instance, in the Andean and Southern Cone regions, and generally lower rates than in the Mexico and Central America regions.... Read More

PANAMA | Exports surge.... Read More

Gas Bienestar (‘wellbeing gas’), a new state-owned company that will distribute liquified petroleum gas (LPG) for household consumption, began operations on 27 August.... Read More

On 18 August the heads of the communications & transport ministry (SCT) and defence ministry (Sedena) awarded a 50-year concession to the company that will operate the Felipe Ángeles' international airport (AIFA) which the armed forces are currently building in Santa Lucía (Estado de México).... Read More

On 25 August Mexico’s national statistics institute (Inegi) disclosed that real GDP during the second quarter of 2021 grew by 1.5% relative to the first quarter (Q1), when it grew by 0.8%.... Read More

MEXICO | States under financial pressure, Moody’s warns.... Read More