
With sustained economic growth, Argentina would be able to avoid another debt crisis. Although there are no silver bullets to put the economy on a more stable path, changing current macroeconomic policies would at least give the country a chance.

Petrobras has finally announced a positive annual result, five years after the Lava Jato corruption probe left the Brazilian state-controlled company with spiraling debts. The firm closed the year with a US$ 25.8bn net profit, the highest figure in seven years, and a total of R$20.2bn (US$ 5.27bn) in asset sales.

The UK economy grew by 0.2% in the three months to January, matching the growth of the previous three months. The report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a pick-up in activity in January when the economy expanded by 0.5%.

Interest rates in the Euro zone will not rise until next year at the earliest, the European Central Bank has signaled amid evidence of a slowdown in the 19 countries using the single currency. The ECB also unveiled a round of fresh stimulus, offering banks cheap loans to try to help revive the economy.

China's number two leader Li Keqiang has warned the country faces a tough struggle, as he laid out plans to prop up the world's second-largest economy. Opening the annual session of China's parliament, he forecast a slower growth of 6% - 6.5% this year, down from a target of around 6.5% in 2018.

Asian shares stepped back on Tuesday after China cut its economic growth target and pledged measures to support the economy amid growing challenges from rising debt and a dispute over trade and technology with the United States. Australian shares dropped 0.6% while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.5%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.3%.

The US trade deficit widened sharply in December as slowing global demand and a strong dollar weighed on exports, another sign that economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter. Other data from the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed new orders for US-made goods barely rose in December and business spending on equipment was much weaker than previously thought, pointing to a softening in manufacturing activity.

Brazil's industrial output increased 1.1% in 2018, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) announced. According to IBGE, though the annual figures were positive, the industrial sector grew at a slower pace than it registered in 2017, when production increased 2.5%.

The Economist has published a piece on Bolivia and its first indigenous president, Evo Morales, who has managed the economy of the continent's poorest country with sustained success during thirteen years. But he has also a strong authoritarian attitude, given his dominance of government branches, and the support of the electorate, mostly indigenous or mestizo. In this scenario, he is running for a fourth consecutive presidential period, which the Constitution bans.

The World Bank lowered its growth estimates for Brazil both in 2018 and this year. Last June the multilateral organization bi-annual report indicated that Latin America's largest economy would advance 2.4%, but it has now reduced that to 1.2%, one of the greatest falls for any country in the report.