Economy

• Wednesday, January 26th 2022 - 20:15 UTC

  Singapore signs treaty to join Pacific Alliance as an associated state

  

  The Asian nation of Singapore Wednesday became the first country to join the Pacific Alliance as an Associated State to the group made up of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.

• Wednesday, January 26th 2022 - 14:28 UTC

  Uruguay and Chile, the least corrupt “in a corrupt continent”

  

  Corruption in Latin America is one of the most notorious problems on the region's agenda after a decade of major judicial operations that exposed corruption schemes involving governments and companies alike. According to Transparency International (TI), corruption has been entrenched in Latin America for more than a decade with little progress and many setbacks in terms of democracy and human rights.

• Wednesday, January 26th 2022 - 09:47 UTC

  Paraguayan President to skip Prosur Summit due to COVID-19

  

  Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Benítez Tuesday announced he shall not be attending the Forum for the Progress of South America (Prosur) because he continues to be down with COVID-19, but will participate in the event in a virtual manner.

• Wednesday, January 26th 2022 - 09:40 UTC

  ECLAC needs to set aside four rogue countries to measure inflation for year 2021

  

  Inflation in Latin America for the year 2021 was way above projections, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has said in a report issued from its Santiago headquarters.

• Wednesday, January 26th 2022 - 09:39 UTC

  Bukele needs to eliminate bitcoin as legal tender, IMF says

  

  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele to drop the use of bitcoin as legal tender in the country, on the grounds that there are “great risks associated” with this practice. Bukele officially adopted bitcoin last September.

• Wednesday, January 26th 2022 - 09:30 UTC

  OECD to evaluate Argentina, Brazil and Peru as potential members

  

  The Council of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has decided to discuss the admission into the group of Argentina, Brazil, and Peru, it was announced Tuesday.

• Monday, January 24th 2022 - 09:29 UTC

  IMF chief warns indebted countries on Fed's announced policy of higher rates

  

  The IMF managing director warned that interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve could have serious implications for counties with high levels of debt in dollars, “cold water” on already weak economic recoveries, or in the process of negotiating debts.

• Monday, January 24th 2022 - 09:23 UTC

  Global Inflation: Brazil's Guedes and Europe's Lagarde have opposing positions

  

  Brazilian economy minister Paulo Guedes said that inflation will become a long-term challenge for Western countries, since “the beast is already out of the bottle”, and central bankers have been caught “sleeping at the driving wheel”.

• Monday, January 24th 2022 - 08:49 UTC

  China concerned about a slowing economy cuts lending rates to boost consumption

  

  The Chinese economy expanded 8,1% in 2021, following the 2,2% of 2020, as steadily growing industrial production and exceptional trade performance offset a drop in retail sales. Still, that figure fell short of economists' expectations for an 8.4% growth and year on year growth rate fell to 4,9% in the third quarter and 4% in the fourth quarter.

• Saturday, January 22nd 2022 - 09:45 UTC

  Buquebús workers stage protest at Buenos Aires port

  

  The Argentine union of maritime workers SOMU Friday staged a protest at the Buquebús terminal in the port of Buenos Aires to keep ships from sailing off to Uruguay in demand of a due wage increase of 23% agreed upon last year.