MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, March 9th 2026 - 21:05 UTC

Economy

  • Thursday, February 1st 2024 - 10:55 UTC

    Lacalle praises Milei for acquiescing to further dredging of River Plate

    The previous Argentine administrations of Presidents Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) and Alberto Fernández (2019-2023) stalled the project out of landlocking fears

    Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou Wednesday praised his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei's willingness to cooperate in further dredging the River Plate at the Port of Montevideo from 13 to 14 meters. The previous administrations of Argentine Presidents Mauricio Macri and Alberto Fernández (2015-2023) considered that these works would leave the port of Buenos Aires in a disadvantageous position. Negotiations in this regard started in 2013 under Presidents Tabaré Vázquez and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK).

  • Thursday, February 1st 2024 - 10:51 UTC

    Brazil lowers Selic basic interest rate

    Further Selic cuts are expected in the coming months

    Brazil's Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) unanimously decided Wednesday to cut down the country's basic interest rate known as Selic by 0.5 percentage points to 11.25% per year, Agencia Brasil reported.

  • Thursday, February 1st 2024 - 10:15 UTC

    Argentina: Fuel at pumps soars as gov't lifts taxation cap

    Decree 107/2024 bears the signatures of President Milei and Ministers Luis ‘Toto’ Caputo (Economy) and Guillermo Francos (Interior)

    Drivers lined up for hours Wednesday in Buenos Aires and other places across Argentina as a new increase in the price of fuel at pumps was expected to be enacted Thursday following a decision by the administration of President Javier Milei to release a liquid fuel (ICL) and carbon dioxide (IDC) tax cap in force since 2021, it was reported.

  • Thursday, February 1st 2024 - 10:01 UTC

    Argentine Central Bank reserves stronger after FMI disbursement

    The latest deal between Argentina and the IMF unblocked a new tranche of disbursements

    After the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Board approved the staff-level agreement with Argentina's current administration, the Government of President Javier Milei received a US$ 4.7 billion disbursement which bolstered the Central Bank (BCRA) reserves to US$ 27.635 billion, it was reported Wednesday in Buenos Aires. The latest deal between Argentina and the IMF unblocked a new series of disbursements.

  • Wednesday, January 31st 2024 - 10:59 UTC

    IMF foresees gloomy near future for Argentina

    Latin America and the Caribbean were also forecast by the FMI to suffer an economic slowdown driven mainly by Argentina's downward revision

    Following President Javier Milei's latest measures, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Tuesday reviewed for the worse its projections for Argentina's economy this year (-2.8%) and forecasted inflation would remain high in the short term.

  • Wednesday, January 31st 2024 - 10:19 UTC

    Latin America exports in 2023 contracted 2,2%, and prospects for this year are uncertain, IDB report

    Export performance deteriorated throughout most of the region. South America and the Caribbean were the sub regions hit hardest by the fall in commodity prices

    The value of exports from Latin America and the Caribbean contracted by 2.2% in 2023 after having grown by 17.0% in 2022, a new release from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reports.

  • Tuesday, January 30th 2024 - 10:31 UTC

    Squid is becoming “too expensive” in Korea because of lesser catch volumes

    Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation and the Korea Agricultural Market Information System claim the price of a medium-sized frozen squid has increased 20.8% in twelve months

    Korean media is pointing out the fact that squid, once considered the “people's side fish”, given its affordability, is now an expensive dish, and has offered some market prices in South Korean Won, which exchanges at 1,330 SKW to the US dollar.

  • Monday, January 29th 2024 - 10:54 UTC

    Milei says “There is no Plan B”: What else did the President tell the WSJ?

    Milei also pointed out that Argentina's history was riddled with Plan Bs of doing things only halfway right

    Argentine President Javier Milei underscored in an interview with The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published on Sunday “the speed” at which his government was “achieving results” and warned that “there is no plan B to do things right.”

  • Saturday, January 27th 2024 - 10:59 UTC

    Milei: Cabinet crisis, diplomatic clash with Colombia and Argentina “closer” to dollarization

    Economy Minister Luis 'Toto' Caputo said the taxation chapter of the Omnibus Law bill was left for later and admitted he would be taking over Infrastructure after Ferraro's sacking

    While Argentine President Javier Milei said Friday that his country was closer to dollarizing its economy, Minister Luis 'Toto' Caputo announced that the taxation part of the so-called Omnibus Law bill was being spared for a later date in a move to have the legislation passed as soon as possible to achieve a zero deficit. However, the Chief of State's plans clash with other conflicts within the cabinet and also in diplomatic matters.

  • Saturday, January 27th 2024 - 10:55 UTC

    French PM says his country would not endorse EU-Mercosur deal

    President Macron “has always opposed” such an understanding, Attal explained

    French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal Friday announced his country's decision once again to oppose the free trade deal between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur amid protests from local farmers objecting to President Emmanuel Macron's latest measures affecting agrifood production.