South America

Brazilian farmer bankruptcy requests shot through the roof in 2023, according to a new survey from data services company Serasa Experian, reflecting higher business risks for global grain traders in one of the world's biggest food producers, the New Straits Times reported. According to Serasa's data released on Thursday, there were 127 farmer bankruptcy filings last year, up 53 per cent from the year before.

Peru's economy should return to growth in the first three months of 2024, the central bank's chief economist Adrian Armas said in a presentation on Friday, predicting a reversal of four quarters of economic decline as inflation nears the bank's target range, Reuters reported. The monetary authority for the world's No. 2 copper producer had held its benchmark interest rate at 6.25% on Thursday, defying expectations of a 25-basis-point cut after inflation ticked up in February.

Argentina's industrial output slid 12.4% in January from a year earlier, the second straight month it has plunged in double digits amid a tough austerity and cost-cutting drive since new libertarian President Javier Milei took office in December, Reuters reported. The decline was the eighth straight month falling, official data showed Wednesday, amid a prolonged economic contraction and soaring inflation running at over 250%, that has badly hurt consumer spending power and consumption.

The Brazilian airline Azul SA is working with Citigroup Inc. and Guggenheim Partners as it explores a potential offer for its troubled competitor Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, Bloomberg News reported. Shares in both companies rallied. The companies are advising Azul as it weighs several options, including an outright acquisition of its rival. Azul still could decide to shelve the idea. Any offer would need approval from the country’s regulator — known as Cade.

A $1.2 billion credit line from the government expected as soon as this month will be key for Brazil’s troubled airlines as they lobby for lower jet fuel costs and for help clamping down on passenger litigation, Azul SA Chief Executive Officer John Peter Rodgerson said, Bloomberg News reported. Unlike in the U.S. and Europe, Latin American nations offered little rescue for the sector during the pandemic, leaving the region’s airlines to deal with the crisis on their own. Several buckled: Avianca Holdings SA, Latam Airlines Group SA and Grupo Aeromexico SAB filed for bankruptcy in 2020.

Argentina is talking to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about a possible new financing program with different targets for the embattled economy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said after meeting Economy Minister Luis Caputo, Reuters reported. The new government of libertarian President Javier Milei is willing to take "very promising" steps to deal with the South American's economy's underlying problems, Yellen told Reuters on Thursday after her first meeting with Caputo.

Bankrupt Brazilian airline Gol received U.S. court approval on Wednesday for a $1 billion loan, after resolving the concerns of a group of lenders that feared they would be sidelined by the new loan, Reuters reported. Gol had previously proposed borrowing $950 million in bankruptcy, but it allowed the objecting lenders to kick in an additional $50 million on the new loan and receive interest on that new debt, Gol's attorney Justin Cunningham said at a hearing in Manhattan.

Brazil's inflation picked up in mid-February driven by higher education prices, but landed slightly below market expectations, government statistics agency IBGE said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The IPCA-15 consumer price index rose 0.78% in the period, while economists polled by Reuters expected an increase of 0.82%. In the same period of the previous month, inflation had hit 0.31%. n annual terms, inflation came in at 4.49%, below the expected 4.52%.

Light SA, a Brazilian utility that filed for bankruptcy protection last year, released a new version of its judicial recovery plan outlining capital increase of 1.5 billion reais amid ongoing negotiations with creditors to restructure its debt, Bloomberg News reported. The troubled Rio utility said in a filing that 1 billion reais will come from key shareholders, including Nelson Tanure, Ronaldo Cézar Coelho and Carlos Alberto Da Veiga Sicupira, who own 50% of the company.

Argentina’s economy contracted in December by the most since the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic as newly elected President Javier Milei put in motion shock austerity measures that slammed the brakes on consumption, Bloomberg News reported. Economic activity in December fell 3.1% from November, according to government data published Thursday, a drop not seen since April 2020. From the same month a year earlier, activity fell 4.5%, more than the 3.2% decline forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The contraction was driven by declines in the financial sector, manufacturing and commerce.