Economy

• Wednesday, February 21st 2024 - 10:23 UTC

  Uruguay: River travel surcharge to trigger legal challenges

  

  Buquebús and Colonia Express, the two shipping companies providing regular passenger services between Argentina and Uruguay, announced this week that they planned to challenge President Luis Lacalle Pou's decree creating a US$ 2.56 surcharge for passengers arriving or leaving at the ports of Colonia and Montevideo.

• Tuesday, February 20th 2024 - 10:52 UTC

  Paraguay's Central Bank lowers interest rates once again

  

  Paraguay's Central Bank (BCP) Monday lowered once again the monetary policy interest rate from 6.50% to 6.25% per annum. It was the seventh straight move in the same direction since August last year, it was reported in Asunción.

• Monday, February 19th 2024 - 10:50 UTC

  Poverty on the rise in Argentina, Catholic University says

  

  According to a study from the Argentine Catholic University (UCA) published during the weekend, poverty in the South American country has gone up from 44.7% to 57.4% of the population in little over two months since President Javier Milei took office.

• Saturday, February 17th 2024 - 10:34 UTC

  Argentina achieves financial surplus for the first time in 12 years

  

  The Argentine government of President Javier Milei announced Friday in Buenos Aires that the country had achieved a financial surplus for the first time in 12 years. In the first full month of the new administration, tax revenues grew by 256.9% which in addition to stringent cuts in public expenditure yielded these results, it was explained.

• Friday, February 16th 2024 - 11:40 UTC

  Now Argentines do their shopping across the border due to lower prices

  

  After little over two months in office, President Javier Milei has managed to reverse a trend whereby people from neighboring countries crossed the border to do their shopping in Argentina. According to reports from the provinces of Misiones and Jujuy, it is now less expensive for Argentines to do it the other way around.

• Friday, February 9th 2024 - 10:47 UTC

  Brazil's CPI 0.42% up last month

  

  According to Brazil's IBGE statistics bureau, inflation last month in South America's largest country reached 0.42% for an accumulated 4.51% year-on-year. These results were driven mainly by increases in the prices of food, Agencia Brasil explained. January's figures were lower than the 0.56% recorded by the Broad National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) in December.

• Thursday, February 8th 2024 - 10:59 UTC

  Argentina: Libertarians not to insist on so-called Omnibus Law bill

  

  After Tuesday's failure at the Lower House to move forward with the so-called Omnibus Law bill targetting government spending, Argentine President Javier Milei said Wednesday from Israel that La Libertad Avanza (LLA) would not insist on that initiative which has achieved its goal of exposing “the caste.”

• Thursday, February 8th 2024 - 10:28 UTC

  Bolivian economy minister says Fitch's downgrading was biased

  

  Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro said the latest grading given to Bolivia by Fitch Ratings entailed a “biased vision” according to which the country's total public debt, internal and external, represented 71.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) when it actually amounted to 46%.

• Tuesday, February 6th 2024 - 11:11 UTC

  Car production in Argentina falls in January

  

  While car making in Argentina went down 16.7% year-on-year in January, exports grew by 34.7%, according to a report released Monday in Buenos Aires by the Association of Automotive Manufacturers (Adefa). Domestic vehicle production reached 22,643 units last month during a total of only 11 working days due to the prolonged summer recess. It also represented a 38.8% decline from December's output.

• Tuesday, February 6th 2024 - 10:37 UTC

  Paraguay successfully issues bonds in local currency

  

  The Government of Paraguay made history Monday by issuing international bonds worth US$ 500 million for the first time in local currency, it was reported in Asunción. “Paraguay makes history by issuing for the first time bonds in guaraníes in the international market. This means that from now on Paraguayan companies will be able to issue abroad, both in guaraníes and dollars, since they will have a reference interest rate to do so,” President Santiago Peña said.