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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, January 18th 2026 - 12:52 UTC

Economy

  • Friday, September 15th 2023 - 11:10 UTC

    Drought strikes: Uruguay's economy shrinks by 2.5% in Year-on-Year analysis

    In terms of seasonally adjusted figures, economic activity saw a 1.4% contraction compared to the Q1 of 2023. Photo: Sebastián Astorga

    The Central Bank of Uruguay has unveiled concerning economic data, revealing a 2.5% year-on-year decline in the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second semester of 2023. The figures, released on Thursday, shed light on the adverse effects of the drought on Uruguay's economic landscape.

  • Thursday, September 14th 2023 - 11:54 UTC

    As with soybeans and corn, Brazil ready to unseat US as world's top cotton exporter

    The difference in cotton exports from the two countries is sharply narrowing amid a robust season in Brazil, adding to a list of crops where the US is losing dominance.

    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.

  • Thursday, September 14th 2023 - 10:47 UTC

    Paraguay said to have recognized Argentina's right to charge tolls along Paraná Waterway

    Royón said the issue was agreeing on the amount of the fee

    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).

  • Thursday, September 14th 2023 - 10:15 UTC

    Argentina: August's inflation hits 12.4%

    Massa criticized the IMF's “inflationary and contractionary” recipes

    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%.

  • Thursday, September 14th 2023 - 10:09 UTC

    Peru to allocate green debt swap to tropical forest protection in Amazon

    It was Peru's third swap after similar deals in 2002 and 2008

    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.

  • Tuesday, September 12th 2023 - 10:00 UTC

    China foreign trade remains sluggish with world demand weak

    China is also Brazil’s most important trade partner. Apart from a brief rebound in March and April, China’s exports — long a driving force for growth — have been in constant decline since October.

    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.

  • Friday, September 8th 2023 - 10:51 UTC

    Argentina: Export taxes lifted from industrialized agriculture products

    There are no magical recipes, Massa argued

    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.

  • Friday, September 8th 2023 - 10:01 UTC

    Investments That Pay Off: Latin America’s Response to Recent Global Shocks

    “This time it wasn't us,” Guillermo Ortiz, then governor of Mexico’s central bank, said at the 2008 start of the global financial crisis.

    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.

  • Thursday, September 7th 2023 - 11:17 UTC

    Bilateral trade shows Argentina's growing dependence on neighboring Brazil

    During August Argentina had a negative trade balance with Brazil, US$ 292 million, for the eighth consecutive month

    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.

  • Thursday, September 7th 2023 - 10:39 UTC

    ECLAC's outlook for the region is grim, but better than in April

    Salazar-Xirinachs spoke of a disease of low growth

    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.