Economy & Business - April 2023

Queues have been forming for weeks outside Bolivia’s central bank in downtown La Paz, as the supply of US dollars available at commercial banks and traders has dried up.... Read More

Pushing through a pension reform bill can test the limits of any democratically elected government, as evidenced by the protests that France’s President Emmanuel Macron has faced in recent weeks.... Read More

COLOMBIA | Rate hikes fail to curb inflation.... Read More

For nearly a century, Lojas Americanas was the retail name per se in Brazil, the quintessential Five and Dime store, a South American Woolworth’s.... Read More

When government-backed unionists burn a puppet-shaped effigy of the central bank chief on the eve of an interest rate decision – as happened in São Paulo in March – you know monetary policy has become politicized.... Read More

The defeat in Chile’s congress of President Gabriel Boric’s tax proposal in March was the most serious blow to the 37-year-old leftist leader since losing a referendum for a new constitution last September.   ... Read More

Even by Argentine standards, the situation of the country’s economy is alarming.... Read More

PARAGUAY | Outlook for growth solid this year.... Read More

On 27 March, President Xiomara Castro announced that Honduras had formally established ties with China and severed relations with Taiwan.... Read More

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised “the achievements made in economic policy” following a recent visit to Guatemala, and it has highlighted the “resilience” of the country’s economy in 2022.... Read More

The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) had described the industry outlook for 2023 as “promising”, predicting that tourist arrival numbers would for the first time push up beyond pre-coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic levels.... Read More

Belize’s public debt as a proportion of GDP has been more than halved from 133% down to 64.1%, according to the concluding statement of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to the country from 2-14 February.... Read More

COSTA RICA | Costa Rica hails issuance of international bonds.... Read More

On 18 March, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador held a massive rally in Mexico City (CDMX) to commemorate the 85th anniversary of oil nationalisation carried out by President Lázaro Cardenas in 1938.... Read More

On 10-11 March, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador visited the construction of lines 6 and 7 of the Tren Maya tourist railway located in Quintana Roo state.... Read More

The Tianguis Turístico annual international tourism trade fair took place in Mexico City from 26-29 March.... Read More

Bilateral trade relations with the US came under stress during March.... Read More

On 24 March, local press reported that Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca had become one of only three companies listed in the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) whose shares were worth less than M$1 (US$0.06).... Read More

MEXICO | Industrial activity increases.... Read More