MercoPress https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2026, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[PM Burnham on taxes, “I won't be unrealistic, and people need to understand that”]]> “I ran Greater Manchester for 10 years and we ran a very tight ship with rock solid finances,” Burnham said. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has suggested tax rises could be on the cards in the coming Autumn Budget, warning “I won’t be unrealistic” over the state of the public purse. The PM quickly pledged to give people “breathing space” and ease the cost of living after taking the keys to No.10 last month.

]]> Wed, 26 Aug 2026 08:25:00 GMT <![CDATA[Unemployment displaces inflation as Argentines' main concern]]> Fear of job loss extends into households: 64% said they were concerned a member of their family could lose their job in the coming months Unemployment has become the leading problem Argentines want the government to solve, well ahead of inflation, according to the economic expectations report by the polling firm Opina Argentina released over the weekend. Thirty-six percent of respondents placed it first, followed by corruption on 32%, while inflation fell to 11% and insecurity to 9%.

]]> Mon, 24 Aug 2026 07:44:00 GMT <![CDATA[Argentina votes this week on the reform barring the central bank from funding the Treasury]]> The bill also prohibits the purchase of national, provincial or municipal government bonds on the primary market, the mechanism through which the central bank has historically financed the Treasury Argentina's Chamber of Deputies will on Wednesday debate the reform of the central bank's charter promoted by Javier Milei's government, which bars the monetary authority from financing the fiscal deficit through money creation and restores preservation of the value of the currency as its sole objective.

]]> Sun, 23 Aug 2026 22:41:00 GMT <![CDATA[The Mercosur-Singapore trade agreement reaches Argentina's Congress]]> The request carried signatures from nine groups, among them PRO, the Unión Cívica Radical, Provincias Unidas, Innovación Federal, Por Santa Cruz, La Neuquinidad and Adelante Buenos Aires Argentina's Chamber of Deputies will on Wednesday take up ratification of the free trade agreement between Mercosur and Singapore, signed in December 2023 and still awaiting parliamentary approval. It is the first trade treaty the bloc has concluded with a Southeast Asian country.

]]> Sun, 23 Aug 2026 22:32:00 GMT <![CDATA[ECLAC trims its 2026 forecast for Latin America and the Caribbean to 2.2%]]> If the projections hold, the region will complete five consecutive years of growth averaging close to 2.3%. The regional economy expanded 2.4% in 2025 and 2.3% in 2024 The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean on Thursday lowered its regional growth projection for 2026 to 2.2%, one tenth below the estimate issued in December. The United Nations body expects a partial recovery to 2.5% in 2027 and warns that the current pace is insufficient to sustainably raise income per capita.

]]> Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:47:00 GMT <![CDATA[US gross national debt passes 40 trillion dollars for the first time]]> The increase is not the work of a single administration. It grew sharply under Joe Biden, with the spending programmes deployed during the pandemic, and has accelerated since Donald Trump's return The gross public debt of the United States reached 40.047 trillion dollars on Tuesday, according to data released by the Treasury Department. It is the first time the figure has crossed that threshold, and it has arrived earlier than expected: the Congressional Budget Office had projected 39.4 trillion by the end of fiscal 2026 and placed the jump to 40 trillion in 2027.

]]> Fri, 21 Aug 2026 05:20:00 GMT <![CDATA[A critical report says Argentina's investment regime concentrated capital in mining and oil]]> In February, a decree brought hydrocarbon exploration and production projects into the regime, extended the application deadline to July 2027 and eased conditions for expanding admitted projects Argentina's Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI), created in 2024, "consolidated a strongly extractive profile and did not stimulate new sectors," according to a report released on Wednesday by the RIGI Observatory, a coalition of civil society organisations and academic centres that examines the scheme from a critical standpoint.

]]> Wed, 19 Aug 2026 21:50:00 GMT <![CDATA[Argentina's vice-president says she is "extremely worried" about those who cannot make ends meet]]> “The political class has to start thinking about those issues, almost to the exclusion of everything else,” she added, speaking to farmers and reporters Argentina's vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, has again distanced herself from Javier Milei's government, voicing concern over unemployment and the financial difficulties facing households. "I am extremely worried about Argentines who today have no work or who cannot make ends meet," she said at the opening of Expo Venado 2026, an agricultural fair in Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe province.

]]> Tue, 18 Aug 2026 06:52:00 GMT <![CDATA[Uruguay's only industrial brewer negotiates cutting 80 jobs or ending production]]> The company, owned by Brazil's Ambev, itself part of Belgium's AB InBev, employs slightly more than 500 people Fábricas Nacionales de Cerveza (FNC), Uruguay's only industrial beer producer, is negotiating with the government and the trade union a restructuring that would cut 80 of the 400 jobs at its Montevideo and Minas plants. The company keeps a second scenario on the table, which the parties involved regard as less likely: abandoning local production and operating as an importer, with a workforce reduced to around 100 employees.

]]> Mon, 17 Aug 2026 08:01:00 GMT <![CDATA[Argentine household arrears reach 17.5% and the government rules out intervening]]> The report, which combines bank and non-bank financing, counts 20.4 million people holding some form of credit, of whom 5.3 million — 26.1% — were more than 90 days behind on payments Arrears on credit to individuals in Argentina reached 17.5% of total lending in June, according to a study by Universidad Austral and the consultancy Eco Go based on central bank data. Javier Milei's government has ruled out intervening and maintains the solution must come from the market.

]]> Sun, 16 Aug 2026 07:46:00 GMT