
World military spending continued to grow in 2021, reaching an all-time high of US$ 2.1 trillion. This was the seventh consecutive year that spending increased, according to the latest data on military spending published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

By Ernesto Talvi (*) – In the 1980s, the Federal Reserve’s dramatic interest-rate hikes led to a lost decade of economic growth in highly indebted Latin American countries. Today, however, the US itself is highly leveraged, which will make the Fed hesitant to pursue measures that imply severe collateral damage elsewhere.

In its National Accounts report published Friday, the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU) announced that the country's economy had grown 7.7% in the second quarter of 2022 mainly due to the high yields achieved in the soybean harvest.

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva (2003-2010), who remains the leading contender for next month's elections against the incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, said Friday that if he returns to the Planalto Palace, he will seek to lower the price of food.

Brazil's industrial activity has been reported to have increased in August and has a bright future ahead, according to a survey from the National Industry Confederation (CNI).

Argentine farmers have sold 15.2% of the country’s 44 million-ton 2021/22 soy crop in seven days since the government implemented a more favorable exchange rate for cash crop exports, Rosario grains exchange reported.

Brazil's economy jumped 1.17% in July from June's figures, according to the Central Bank's Economic Activity Index (IBC-Br) released Thursday based on seasonally adjusted data.

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, met this week with Sergio Massa, Minister of Economy of Argentina, in Washington D.C. The meeting took place after a fruitful week of face-to-face technical meetings in the context of the second review of the program under the IMF’s Extended Arrangement with Argentina. After the meeting, Ms. Georgieva issued the following statement:

Uruguay's Plenario Intersindical de Trabajadores (PIT-CNT) general labor union has called for a 24-hour general strike Thursday to protest against wage cuts, high costs and social security reform.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Wednesday discussed the issue of fertilizers and food exports with Russian President Vladimir Putin, it was reported.