President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva cast doubt on the need to meet Brazil’s fiscal targets, saying in an interview with a local TV station that he is “not obligated to set a goal and stick to it” if he decides he “has more important things to do,” Bloomberg News reported. “It’s just a matter of vision,” Lula said in the Tuesday interview with Record TV. “This country has no problem if it is a zero deficit, if it is a 0.1% deficit, if it is a 0.2% deficit. There is no problem for the country.

Brazil’s economy grew slightly less than expected in May though prior figures were revised up, the central bank’s main gauge of activity showed amid signs that borrowing costs will stay high for longer, Bloomberg News reported. The bank’s economic activity index, a proxy for gross domestic product, rose 0.25% from April, below the 0.3% median estimate from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Still, April’s monthly growth was revised to 0.26% from 0.01% previously, according to data published on Monday. From a year ago, the gauge gained 1.3%, the report added.

Argentina's economy ministry said on Sunday it will purchase just over $1.5 billion from the central bank to pay the total interest on the country's "Globales" and "Bonares" bonds due in January 2025, Reuters reported. The operation will use part of the financial surplus achieved in the first half of the year, which had accumulated to 2.3 trillion Argentine pesos ($2.5 billion) by May, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry added that $1.528 billion will be deposited in an account at trustee Bank of New York and will be available only to be used for paying the interest on the bonds.

Argentines say they are yet to feel the benefits of cooling inflation and analysts predict the five-month streak could end when official figures for June were released on Friday, Reuters reported. Since President Javier Milei took power late last year, inflation has slowed dramatically in Argentina, decelerating from 25.5% in December to 4.2% in May. The sharp fall has been attributed to a suite of cost-cutting and austerity measures that have put a lid on consumer demand, as well as measures to reduce money printing.

Investors in Chile are bracing for a rare flood of commercial buildings to hit the market as two of the nation’s largest real estate investment funds near liquidation, Bloomberg News reported. Real estate portfolios worth $552 million held in funds managed by heavyweights Toesca SA and Banchile Inversiones could soon go on sale due to recent shareholder votes. That’s raising fears of a looming vicious cycle in Chile. Low prices prompted investors to give up and liquidate real estate investments, but the upcoming sudden supply of buildings could push prices down even further.

Brazil’s annual inflation rate rose less than expected in June, bolstering the central bank after it came under fire from critics for pausing its interest rate cuts to combat simmering price pressures, Bloomberg News reported. Official data released Wednesday showed prices increased 4.23% from a year earlier, below the 4.32% median estimate from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. On the month, inflation stood at 0.21%, under all forecasts.

The Argentine government published a sweeping decree on Wednesday aimed at opening up the country's aviation sector, inviting foreign airlines to enter the market long dominated by state-run carrier Aerolineas Argentinas, Reuters reported. The reform should boost the number of routes, flight frequencies and bring in more competitors, the transportation secretariat said in a statement. Carriers can now petition to operate as many routes and frequencies as they want, subject to safety approval, according to the decree.

Brazil’s top decision-maker on currency intervention signaled he wouldn’t pull the trigger on any move to stem this year’s rout in the real without obtaining full support from the central bank board, Bloomberg News reported. Gabriel Galipolo told investors in private meetings this month he would seek consensus from fellow bank directors before taking action in the foreign exchange market, according to four participants of those gatherings.

Colombian inflation accelerated for the first time in 15 months in a setback for the government which wants faster interest rate cuts to revive economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 7.18% in June from a year earlier, the statistics agency said Monday, from 7.16% in May. Prices roses 0.32% from a month earlier, slightly higher than the 0.30% median forecast of 25 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. One measure of core inflation closely tracked by the central bank, which excludes volatile food prices, slowed to 7.64%% from a year earlier.

Argentina’s Mercado Abierto Electronico and Matba-Rofex agreed to merge into a single exchange, creating the country’s largest futures and foreign-exchange market, Bloomberg News reported. The companies expect to make the announcement after the market closes on Monday. The new exchange will include agricultural transactions, peso futures against dollars and trading on bonds, including local treasury and central bank notes. Argentina’s foreign exchange and fixed income market volume has plummeted since the country reintroduced capital controls in 2019.