Fitch Ratings upgraded Argentina's long-term foreign currency debt rating from CCC to CCC+, citing the rapid economic recovery under President Javier Milei. Key factors include a new US$ 20 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement, with an initial US$ 12 billion disbursement boosting reserves to US$38 billion, and the liberalization of the exchange market an AR$ 1,000 / AR$ 1,400 band per US dollar.
Venezuela is turning to its geopolitical allies, Russia and China, to counter a deepening economic crisis, as the South American nation faces dwindling oil revenues, runaway inflation, and a severe currency devaluation.
Uruguay's foreign trade showed growth in April 2025, with exports increasing by 4% compared to the same period last year, a Uruguay XXI study released in Montevideo Monday showed. Total exports for the month reached US$ 1.033 billion, while cumulative exports from January to April amounted to US$ 3.92 billion, also marking a 4% year-on-year increase.
Bolivia's inflation rose by 0.9% last month, bringing the cumulative rate for the first third of 2025 to 5.95%, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) reported Monday. These figures were significantly higher than the 1.31% recorded for the same period in 2024 and represented 79.3% of the government's 7.5% annual target
Argentine Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos announced Wednesday that a new methodology for calculating the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to measure inflation more accurately is to be implemented shortly by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec), pending institutional review and an awareness campaign.
A Datafolha survey published Sunday revealed that 58% of Brazilians have reduced food purchases due to rising inflation, which hit 5.48% annually by March 2025. When measured amongst the poorest strata of society (people with an income of up to two minimum wages), 67% were forced to adopt contingency measures.
After Argentina's National Institute of Statistics and Census (Inec) announced Friday that the National Consumer Price Index (IPC) in February reached 2.4%, analysts in Buenos Aires foresee it to show another acceleration in March, potentially exceeding February's core inflation rate of 2.9%.
Brazil's Chamber of Foreign Trade's (Camex) Executive Management Committee (Gecex) gave its nod Thursday to the temporary removal of import taxes on nine food items to lower prices for local consumers. The tax exemption applies to boneless frozen beef, roasted and unroasted coffee beans, corn (not for sowing), certain uncooked pasta, cookies, extra virgin olive oil, crude sunflower oil, cane sugar, and preserved sardines (limited to 7,500 tons). Taxes ranging between 7.2% and 32% have been lowered to 0% in a move to curb inflation. The measure is effective starting Friday. Authorities insisted it would only be for a limited time.
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva highlighted Wednesday that his country's economy has outperformed expectations in the past two years when it reached 3.2% in 2023 and 3.8% in 2024 amid projections of +0.8% and +2.5% respectively.
Argentina's inflation in January 2025 stood at 2.2%, down from 2.7% in December, the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec) said in a report released Thursday, which also showed yoy values of 84.5%. January's was the lowest Consumer Price Index (CPI) since July 2020 - 1.9% amid the Covid-19 pandemic - and also the best under Javier Milei, who took office on Dec. 10, 2023. The President's best previous CPI was in November 2024 at 2.4%.