
Argentina became the first Mercosur country to secure an initial legislative green light for the trade agreement with the European Union, after the Chamber of Deputies approved the text late on Thursday. The bloc also includes Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, which have launched their own domestic ratification processes.

Paraguay recorded a US$ 162.2 million trade deficit in January after reporting US$ 1.2864 billion in exports and US$ 1.4486 billion in imports, according to the Central Bank of Paraguay’s (BCP) monthly foreign trade report.

Argentina’s inflation came in at 2.9% in January, taking the 12-month rate to 32.4%, according to the national statistics agency INDEC. The reading marked an acceleration of 0.1 percentage points from December.

Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer, exported 2.78 million 60-kg bags in January, down 30.8% from the same month in 2025, according to the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council (Cecafé), EFE reported on Tuesday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has directly appointed Lord Richard Walker as the Government’s Cost of Living Champion. Lord Richard Walker will work across Government while enhancing partnerships with businesses, regulators, and a broad range of organizations to consider how the whole of Government can go further to deliver on its priority of easing the cost of living for families.

Argentina’s Economy Ministry published the instrument menu for the Feb. 11 debt auction, closely watched by markets given the size of maturities: nearly ARS 10 trillion (around USD 7 million), about ARS 9 trillion of which is held by private investors.

Argentina’s government has issued the implementing rules for its Inocencia Fiscal law, formally activating a voluntary Simplified Income Tax Regime (RSG) aimed at encouraging taxpayers to bring undeclared savings —popularly known as “mattress dollars”— into the formal economy, while shifting enforcement toward compliance “going forward.”

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing an additional 25% tariff on imports from countries that buy Iranian goods or services, expanding Washington’s economic pressure campaign beyond direct sanctions on Tehran.

The Falkland Islands Development Corporation, FIDC, has announced that Sam Cockwell has joined the team as Strategic Projects Manager. The FIDC is the economic development agency for the Falklands in 1983 in response to the Shackleton Report.

World food commodity prices declined in January 2026 for the fifth consecutive month, led by lower international quotations for dairy, sugar and meat products, according to the benchmark report released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.