The International Monetary Fund has hardened its view on how Argentina is running a $44 billion loan programme that has gone off track ahead of the country's key presidential vote later in November, Reuters reported. The IMF's board of executive directors met in a previously unreported meeting on Oct. 30 for an informal briefing on Argentina by the Fund's staff, as the South American nation is battling triple-digit inflation and with net reserves in the red in the run-up to the presidential vote.
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Unigel would be a step away from filing for bankruptcy and both credit agencies rating its debt obligations, Fitch and S&PL Global, have downgraded the company to the bottom notches of their rating scales, ICIS reported. On 2 October, Unigel failed to pay a coupon on a bond due in 2026, entering a 30-day grace period to negotiate with bondholders. The company said at the end of the grace period its talks with creditors were continuing, although fears about it filing for bankruptcy kept growing.
General Motors will cancel 1,245 layoffs at its factories in Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Caetano do Sul and Mogi das Cruzes in the state of Sao Paulo, the union representing metalworkers said on Saturday, Reuters reported. The announcement was made a day after a Brazilian labor court rejected the U.S. automaker's request for an injunction to maintain the layoffs. Saving the jobs was a “historic victory” following a 13-day strike, the Sindmetal union said in a statement, adding that GM representatives will meet union leaders on Monday to confirm the decision.
Chilean economic activity registered the biggest monthly gain since January as the mining sector recovered and policymakers continued to lower borrowing costs, Bloomberg News reported. Activity rose 0.6% in September from the previous month, according to the central bank’s Imacec index, a proxy for gross domestic product. That compares with the 0.2% median estimate from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The index was unchanged from the prior year, the bank reported Thursday.
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Annual inflation in Peru decelerated to 4.34% in October to reach its lowest in over two years, according to official data published on Wednesday, far surpassing forecasts though still above the central bank's target rate, Reuters reported. Data from national statistics agency INEI showed the key index based on the metropolitan region of Lima slowed to its lowest level since July 2021, when it stood at 3.8%. On a month-to-month basis the Lima Consumer Price Index, Peru's inflation benchmark, fell 0.32%, reversing the upward path seen in September, when consumer prices were up 0.02%.
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Bolivia's economy grew by 2.21% in the second quarter of this year compared to a year earlier, the country's planning ministry said on Friday, boosted by a growth in internal demand, Reuters reported. Growth was led by the South American country's services, electricity, gas and water, financial establishments and construction sectors, the ministry said in a report. "Bolivia maintains a sustained economic growth above the South American average," Planning Minister Sergio Cusicanqui said. The government forecasts annual growth of 4.86% this year.
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The Biden administration’s rollback of sanctions against Venezuela is offering a helping hand to bondholders owed $63 billion from the government in Caracas, many of whom haven’t been paid a dime in nearly six years, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Since the Biden administration loosened sanctions on President Nicolás Maduro’s government last week and allowed U.S. investors to once again buy and sell Venezuelan debt, trading in the South American country’s sovereign bonds has intensified and prices are rallying.
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Argentina urged a U.S. judge not to enforce a $16.1 billion judgment arising from the government's 2012 seizure of a majority control in state-controlled oil company YPF, while the cash-strapped country appeals the judgment, Reuters reported. In a Thursday night filing with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Argentina said enforcing the "truly overwhelming" judgment or requiring that it post bond would "cripple a nation already suffering from severe inflation and drought." Two investors, Petersen Energia and Eton Park Capital Management, sued, and last month U.S.
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Sugar mills in top supplier Brazil are set to boost production next year as companies emerging from bankruptcy begin resuming output while others invest in operations, according to a forecast by BP Bunge Bioenergia SA, Bloomberg News reported. The company, a sugar ethanol joint venture between oil major BP Plc and crop trader Bunge Ltd., expects mills in the Center-South region to produce 41.6 million tons of sugar in 2024, commercial director Ricardo Carvalho said in an interview. That is a 1.7% increase from the current harvest year, which itself is expected to be a record.
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Brazil’s annual inflation rate ticked up roughly in line with forecasts as investors expect the central bank will keep its current pace of borrowing-cost cuts at next week’s policy meeting, Bloomberg News reported. Official data released Thursday showed consumer prices rose 5.05% in mid-October from a year earlier, just above the 5.04% median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Monthly inflation hit 0.21%. Policymakers are holding firm to their plans and are expected to follow through with a third straight half-point cut at their Nov.
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