Economy

• Thursday, May 7th 2020 - 13:10 UTC

  Hundreds of activists in Buenos Aires demand food for soup kitchens

  

  Several hundred activists blocked this week one of Buenos Aires' main avenues for hours to demand food for soup kitchens that feed hundreds of thousands in poor neighborhoods during the mandatory lockdown aimed at preventing the spread of the new coronavirus.

• Thursday, May 7th 2020 - 13:04 UTC

  Chile anticipates a glut of some 200.000/300.000 tons of copper in 2020

  

  The global copper market is headed for a surplus of between 200,000-300,000 tons in 2020, the head of the miner Antofagasta told Chilean media, with operation halts at some mines offsetting depressed demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

• Thursday, May 7th 2020 - 13:01 UTC

  Bank of England preparing new stimuli; economy could shrink 14% this year but bounce back 15% in 2021

  

  The Bank of England said Britain could be headed for its biggest economic slump in over 300 years due to the coronavirus lockdown and kept the door open on Thursday for further stimulus.

• Thursday, May 7th 2020 - 12:58 UTC

  Chilean economy contracts 3.5% in March over a year ago

  

  Chile’s economic activity dropped 3.5% in March from a year earlier, the central bank said. The bank’s IMACEC economic activity index declined 5.7% compared with the previous month, as the country went into an economic and social shutdown after the arrival in Chile of the new coronavirus.

• Thursday, May 7th 2020 - 12:47 UTC

  Restructuring Argentina’s Private Debt is Essential

  

  By Joseph Stiglitz, Edmund S. Phelps, and Carmen Reinhart (*) – Argentina's creditors are being asked to accept a proposal that would reduce their revenue stream but make it sustainable. A responsible resolution will set a positive precedent, not only for Argentina but for the international financial system as a whole.

• Thursday, May 7th 2020 - 07:50 UTC

  Trump shifts primary focus to reviving US business and social life; Democrats criticize “undermining science”

  

  President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his coronavirus task force would shift its primary focus to reviving US business and social life while acknowledging that reopening the economy could put more lives at risk.

• Thursday, May 7th 2020 - 07:47 UTC

  Brazil expects exports to China to help mitigate the contraction of the country's economy

  

  Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said that according to initial estimates, the country's economy would shrink 6% as a result of the recession caused by the new coronavirus pandemic, but now, thanks to the increase in exports to China, expectations are of a retraction of only 4% this year.

• Thursday, May 7th 2020 - 07:34 UTC

  Brazil lowers interest rates to a record low 3%, with suggestions of a similar cut in June

  

  Brazil’s central bank slashed interest rates more than expected on Wednesday, cutting its benchmark Selic rate by 75 basis points to a record-low 3.00% and previewing another cut as it battles an economic crisis fueled by the coronavirus pandemic.

• Wednesday, May 6th 2020 - 09:55 UTC

  Argentina and bondholders agree “much can change in the course of a week”

  

  The government of Argentina and its biggest bondholders are clashing over plans to restructure US$ 65 billion in foreign debt, with little sign of either side budging in last-ditch talks to strike a deal.

• Wednesday, May 6th 2020 - 09:40 UTC

  Petrobras record oil exports of one million barrels per day in April

  

  Petrobras set a new oil exports record of 1 million BPD in April, as domestic demand plunged, the Brazilian state-controlled oil firm said on Monday, days after a large group of other oil producers, OPEC+, began a 9.7-million-BPD collective cut aimed at rebalancing the market.