
As with other crops, Brazil is close to unseating the US to become the world’s biggest cotton exporter as Texas, America’s top-producing region, buckles under searing heat and drought.

Argentina's Energy Secretary Flavia Royon said Wednesday that Paraguay had recognized her country's right to charge a fee (toll) to barges sailing along the Parana River Waterway and that the issue at this point was to discuss the price, for which a technical commission will be instated to assess the crossed claims between the neighboring countries for debts related to the Yacyretá Binational Entity (EBY).

Argentina's National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec) announced Wednesday that inflation for the month of August had reached 12.4% for a total of 124.4% in the last 12 months. The highest monthly rate in over 32 years came after the Aug. 14 devaluation of the Argentine peso. So far in 2023, the Consumer Price Index has accumulated an increase of 80.2%.

The Peruvian administration of President Dina Boluarte pledged to use the proceeds from a US$ 20 million debt swap with the United States for climate action in the Amazon to finance a tropical forest protection fund over the next 13 years, it was reported Wednesday in Lima. It is the third debt-for-nature swap between the two governments.

China’s exports and imports sank again in August, data showed, as the world’s second-largest economy struggles with sluggish global demand and a wider slowdown. However, the pace of contraction slowed from the previous month and was not as bad as feared.

Argentina's Economy Minister and presidential candidate Sergio Massa Thursday announced the lifting of all export taxes to the sales abroad of regional economy products with added value, it was reported in Buenos Aires. The measure favors the agro-industrial sector which features over 1,200,000 registered workers.

By Rodrigo Valdes, IMF Director of the Western Hemisphere Department
The region, which successfully navigated economic turmoil, now must boost inclusive growth, reduce debt, and capitalize on new opportunities. Praise for policies implemented by the LA5 Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and also Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Paraguay and Costa Rica.

Overwhelmed by its financial problems and lack of foreign currency, which seriously limits international trade, there is an increasing position among some Argentine government theorists that Brazil's better performance could help its Mercosur partner with loans and other credit instruments to keep the country's activity going and safeguarding jobs.

The latest report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) released Tuesday in Santiago foresees low regional growth for at least the next two years. For 2023, the organization projects a 1.7% increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while in 2024 it would fall to 1.5%, while the world's GDP is expected to grow by 3% in 2023 and 2024, down from 3.5% in 2022.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has said interest rates are close to their peak, but that they may still have further to rise. He told MPs on Wednesday we are much nearer now to the top of the cycle of rate rises.