Economy

• Wednesday, January 28th 2026 - 09:49 UTC

  Lula and Chile’s president-elect Kast meet for the first time in Panama ahead of ‘Latin Davos’ forum

  

  Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Chile’s president-elect José Antonio Kast held their first bilateral meeting in Panama on Tuesday, shortly after arriving for the International Economic Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean — an event promoted by organizers and regional media as a “Latin Davos.”

• Tuesday, January 27th 2026 - 15:33 UTC

  EU and India seal historic trade deal after 18 years of talks

  

  New Delhi and Brussels announced on Tuesday that they had concluded the largest bilateral trade deal in their histories after almost two decades of negotiations. The pact links India’s 1.4 billion-person economy with the 27-nation European Union and, according to both sides, will create a free-trade zone for around 2 billion consumers and sharply lower tariffs and other barriers that have long hindered commerce between the two regions.

• Tuesday, January 27th 2026 - 10:18 UTC

  Uruguay Central Bank accelerates easing, cuts key rate to 6.5% as dollar hits lows

  

  Uruguay’s Central Bank (BCU) cut its benchmark policy rate by 100 basis points to 6.5% and said monetary policy “enters an expansionary phase,” framing the move as a way to prevent inflation from drifting away from its 4.5% target and to respond to recent strains in the foreign-exchange market.

• Monday, January 26th 2026 - 10:13 UTC

  U.S. Treasury Secretary praises Milei and defends U.S. currency swap as bilateral alignment deepens

  

  U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised Argentine President Javier Milei and defended the currency swap deal between the two countries, offering a mix of political and financial backing that the Trump administration frames as part of its broader Latin America strategy.

• Friday, January 23rd 2026 - 23:04 UTC

  EU and Ecuador wrap up talks on sustainable investment deal, EU’s first SIFA with Latin America

  

  The European Union and Ecuador have concluded negotiations on a Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (SIFA), in what Brussels is portraying as the bloc’s first such deal with a Latin American country, according to an EFE report on Friday.

• Friday, January 23rd 2026 - 19:19 UTC

  EU ‘ready’ to roll out Mercosur deal once South American ratifications start, von der Leyen says

  

  European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union is prepared to provisionally implement the EU–Mercosur trade agreement as soon as Mercosur countries begin completing their ratification procedures, seeking to reassure partners after a European Parliament vote injected fresh uncertainty into the bloc’s approval track.

• Friday, January 23rd 2026 - 18:08 UTC

  Argentina’s tax and customs agency complaint targets national football federation over fake invoices

  

  Argentina’s Revenue and Customs Control Agency (ARCA) has filed a fresh complaint against the Argentine Football Association (AFA), alleging undocumented outflows of money and the use of fake invoices, with a preliminary estimated tax damage of more than 375 million pesos (around USD 262,372.01), according to Argentine media reports.

• Wednesday, January 21st 2026 - 21:26 UTC

  European Parliament puts EU-Mercosur trade deal on hold, seeks top court legal opinion

  

  The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to freeze its approval track for the EU-Mercosur trade agreement and request a legal opinion from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on whether the deal is compatible with EU treaties. The motion passed by a razor-thin margin —334 in favour, 324 against, with 11 abstentions— injecting new uncertainty into a pact that the two blocs had only just signed in Asunción after a quarter-century of negotiations.

• Tuesday, January 20th 2026 - 15:29 UTC

  Delcy Rodríguez vows 30% increase in gold output to boost hard-currency inflows

  

  Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez said her administration aims to raise gold production by 30% in 2026 to generate additional foreign-currency revenues, as the government seeks to shore up public finances and draw fresh investment into the mining sector, according to reports attributed to EFE.

• Monday, January 19th 2026 - 18:45 UTC

  Trump’s obsession: why central bankers came out in support of Fed’s chair Powell

  

  By John Hawkins (*) - Central bankers from around the world have issued a joint statement of support for US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, as he faces a criminal probe on top of mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump to resign early.