Consumer prices in Uruguay rose 0.93% during August, above expectations and leaving the Central bank with not much margin to apply counter measures. In the twelve months to August inflation was 7.88%, up from July’s 7.48%.
Former president Tabare Vazquez is the most popular politician in Uruguay with 65% support followed by the current head of state Jose Mujica with 50% and Vice-president Danilo Astori, 48%, according to an opinion poll from Equipos Mori and published over the weekend in the Montevideo media.
Mistrust towards Uruguayan president Jose Mujica has again peaked in August and now stands at 52% while those trusting him are 39% with the remaining 8% saying they don’t know or prefer to remain quiet, according to the latest public opinion poll released this week in Montevideo.
The Argentine government on Wednesday promulgated the tax agreement reached with Uruguay geared to lower fiscal evasion and elusion plus avoiding double taxing for residents from the neighbouring countries.
Uruguay needs “new markets and new partners” and must try to diversify trade with the largest possible number of agreements to make Mercosur more flexible and anticipate the current process in Argentina, said President Jose Mujica.
Uruguayan president Jose Mujica approval plummeted to 39% in July, the lowest since taking office among other reasons for his plan to de-criminalize marihuana and his handling of the controversy with Argentina, according to the latest public opinion poll made public this week.
Uruguay will continue “to look after” Mercosur in spite of the strong diplomatic discrepancies with Argentina, but will also continue with an interest in participating in other trade blocks of the region, said President Jose Mujica.
A plan by Uruguayan president Jose Mujica to turn the government into the nation's marijuana dealer has been presented to Congress. The aim of the proposed bill is to take over an illegal marijuana trafficking business estimated to be worth 30 to 40 million dollars annually.
The Uruguayan government said on Monday there will be no public statements on the latest “situations” with Argentina, and Uruguay will keep to what was agreed at presidential level during the last (31 July) Mercosur extraordinary meeting in Brasilia.
Brazilian president DIlma Rousseff said that with the incorporation of Venezuela, Mercosur has become a global power in food and energy and becomes the fifth world economy with a GDP of 3.3tn dollars.