
By Ilan Goldfain, Anna Ivanova and Jorge Roldos (*) – Governments will need to combine fighting inflation with structural policies that reignite growth.

In its annual report Social Panorama of Latin America, ECLAC estimates that the number of people living in extreme poverty rose by around 5 million between 2020 and 2021. The United Nations organization calls for moving towards universal, comprehensive, sustainable, and resilient social protection systems.

The recent deal between the Argentine Government of President Alberto Fernández and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is taking its toll on the country's political leadership front after Lower House Majority Leader Máximo Kirchner announced Monday he would resign that position.

Chilean authorities have reported Monday that unemployment nationwide had fallen in 2021 to 7.2% while in the same period of 2020 it had hit 10.3%. In the middle of the social uprisings of 2019 it had been recorded at 7.1%.

The Government of Argentina and The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Friday reached an agreement for the repayment of the South American country's debt stemming from a loan granted under the administration of Former President Mauricio Macri.

The Chilean central bank hiked its reference rate from 4% to 5,5% to contain inflation which last year reached 7,2%, the highest in fourteen years. The Monetary Policy council of the bank on Wednesday agreed unanimously to increase the reference rate by 150 base points, according to the official release.

An article published by The Washington Post highlights Argentina's inflationary tradition and suggests US citizens should take a look at the South American country's way of economic life after prices locally rose around 7% in one year.

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.

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.

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.