Brazil’s central government’s primary budget deficit narrowed in March thanks to aggressive cuts in discretionary spending, the Treasury said on Monday, although it warned that public finances were still at risk from pension commitments and weak revenues.
“Ortega and Somoza are the same thing” protesters in Nicaragua yelled last week against the government of Daniel Ortega, after the announcement of a Social Security's reform that unleashed a wave of protests marked by repression and excessive use of force by the authorities. Human rights organizations have announced that at least 30 people have died in the demonstrations, including students, police and a journalist. This surprise wave of civil protests suggests comparing the crisis in the Central American country with the lived in the Venezuela of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro for years.
The main concern of Argentines is insecurity, followed at a distance by poverty according to a public opinion poll released this week in Buenos Aires, which also revealed that one out of three interviewed had been victims of some kind of criminal activity.
Uruguayan government employees’ take-home pay on average more than doubles their counterparts in the private sector according to official figures from the country’s Social Security Office and published by Montevideo’s main daily El País.
The US economy is recovering after the global economic crisis, but consumers and financial institutions remain cautious as weak housing markets, high unemployment, and risks in Europe remain a concern, the IMF staff said in a press conference that followed its annual review of the world’s largest economy.