Colombia’s economy grew even slower than the central bank’s gloomy forecast last year, potentially opening the door to faster interest rate cuts, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product rose 0.6% in 2023 from a year earlier, the national statistics agency said Thursday, lagging the bank’s forecast of a 1% expansion. Excluding the Covid-19 crisis, that was the worst result since 1999. The economy expanded 0.3% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, below the 0.8% median forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

After the U.S. dropped a broad array of sanctions against Venezuela in October, it warned that it could reimpose all of them, except one. The White House admitted that its ban on buying Venezuelan bonds was a failure that had potentially benefited enemies of the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported. Behind the scenes, a group of powerful Wall Street investors had been feeding Washington a stream of evidence that showed Venezuelan bonds were being traded by investors with ties to Russia. They said Moscow was hoping to gain influence in the U.S.’s backyard.

Bankrupt Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA won court permission to investigate whether its rival Latam Airlines Group SA sought to take unfair advantage of its recent chapter 11 filing by improperly soliciting major Boeing Co. aircraft suppliers, Bloomberg News reported. Judge Martin Glenn said Monday there is merit in investigating allegations Latam tried to either poach or interfere with Boeing 737 aircraft lessors doing business with Gol after the Brazilian budget airline filed bankruptcy last month.

Brazilian grain exporters lobby Anec on Thursday warned it was concerned about a rise in farmer bankruptcy filings in the country, adding a recent increase in cases potentially compromises the execution of grain contracts, Reuters reported. The rise in farmer bankruptcy cases, which may affect delivery of committed grains throughout the season, may also hamper traders' ability to complete their export programs, Anec said. Farmer groups, including Aprosoja-Mato Grosso and Aprosoja Brasil, did not have an immediate comment.

Bankrupt Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA accused its rival Latam Airlines Group SA of taking advantage of its recent financial trouble by trying to poach its pilots and Boeing aircraft, Bloomberg News reported. The Sao Paulo-based airline said in court papers filed Thursday that Latam recently sent a letter to Gol’s business partners inquiring about leasing Boeing aircraft and solicited Brazilian pilots experienced in flying such aircraft in an Internet job posting.

Unigel Participacoes SA is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection in Brazil after talks with creditors stalled, Bloomberg News reported. The chemical producer was granted a 60-day protection from creditors by a court on Dec. 14, but a mediation process didn’t result in an agreement. Local bondholders declared the early maturity of some notes last year, triggering an acceleration of the troubled fertilizer maker’s debt and prompting the company to seek protection in court.

Outstanding loans in Brazil grew by 7.9% in 2023, a sharp deceleration from the previous year when the expansion had been 14.5%, central bank data showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The credit stock saw a 1.4% increase in December from the previous month, with the volume of financing concluding the year at 5.8 trillion reais ($1.16 trillion). The slowdown in outstanding loans last year was driven by high borrowing costs.

Chile’s central bank slashed its key interest rate by a full percentage point, speeding up the pace of monetary easing for the second meeting in a row after inflation slowed more than expected last month, Bloomberg News reported. Four of the five policymakers voted to cut borrowing costs to 7.25% late on Wednesday, with the other backing a reduction of 125 basis points. The decision was forecast by 17 of 21 analysts in a Bloomberg survey, with three others predicting 75 basis points and one seeing 125 basis points.

Colombia maintained the pace of monetary policy easing with a second straight quarter-point cut to interest rates as consumer price increases remain above target and inflationary threats abound, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank cut its key rate to 12.75%, Governor Leonardo Villar told reporters in Bogota on Wednesday. Ten of 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg correctly forecast the move, while 15 expected a half-point cut and one a cut to 12.25%. The board voted 5-2 for the 25 basis-point cut, with the minority favoring a larger half-point reduction.

The International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved a $4.7 billion disbursement to the government of Argentine President Javier Milei, Bloomberg News reported. The payments are part of a refinanced $44 billion program, the lender’s largest, that was beset by uncertainty for months during the election campaign that saw Milei oust the Peronist government of Alberto Fernandez. The board’s decision Wednesday follows a staff-level agreement reached in Buenos Aires earlier this month.