Chile’s economic activity posted its biggest monthly drop since May as services declined, pushing one of Latin America’s richest nations toward recession and paving the way for more big interest rate cuts, Bloomberg News reported. The Imacec index, a proxy for gross domestic product, fell 0.5% in August from July, compared to the median estimate for a 0.2% gain from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. It matched the 0.5% decline recorded in May. From a year prior, the index dropped 0.9%, the central bank reported on Monday.
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Brazil's jobless rate dropped for the fifth consecutive rolling quarter in the three months ended in August, reaching its lowest since early 2015 as the labor market in Latin America's largest economy continues to show resilience, Reuters reported. The unemployment rate reached 7.8% in the quarter through August, statistics agency IBGE said on Friday, in line with market expectations and down from the 7.9% seen in the previous rolling quarter.
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Annual inflation in Peru decelerated to 5.04% in September to hit its lowest level in more than two years, according to official figures published on Sunday, though consumer prices remained some way 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 August 2021, when it stood at 4.95%. On a month-to-month basis the Lima Consumer Price Index, Peru's inflation benchmark, inched up 0.02% in September, well below the 0.38% increase in August.
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Brazil’s central bank raised its 2023 economic growth forecast while warning of a looming drop-off in activity next year as monetary policy remains tight, Bloomberg News reported. The bank forecasts gross domestic product will expand 2.9% this year, more than the 2% growth estimate from June, according to its quarterly inflation report published on Thursday. It sees activity growing 1.8% next year. By comparison, analysts surveyed by the monetary authority have raised their GDP estimates to 2.92% for 2023 and 1.5% in 2024.
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A public spending boom and generous tax cuts carried out by Argentina’s Economy Minister Sergio Massa, who’s also running for president in the October election, pose new setbacks to the country’s $44 billion program with the International Monetary Fund, according to the Washington-based lender, Bloomberg News reported. “The recently adopted policy measures and announcements add to Argentina’s challenges,” IMF chief spokesperson Julie Kozack said at a press conference in Washington Thursday.
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Brazil's central bank governor Roberto Campos Neto on Wednesday said policymakers are aiming to tighten cryptocurrency regulation and subject brokerages to their supervision, Reuters reported. Speaking during a hearing in Congress, Campos Neto emphasized regulators will scrutinize the backing of cryptocurrencies and associated activities, given the significant surge in cryptocurrency imports by Brazilians. Data released by the central bank this week revealed cryptocurrency imports jumped by 44.2% from January to August compared to the same period last year, totaling $7.4 billion.
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Brazil's annual inflation accelerated in mid-September to 5.00%, data from statistics agency IBGE showed on Tuesday, coming in line with market expectations as the central bank signals it will maintain its current pace of monetary easing, Reuters reported. Analysts believe inflation in Latin America's largest economy has already reached its lowest for the year while remaining relatively under control, allowing the monetary authority to keep lowering borrowing costs.
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Burford Capital said it would be seeking court permission to begin attaching Argentine assets within weeks to satisfy a $16 billion judgment, saying it was clear that the South American nation had “no intention” of paying, Bloomberg News reported. In a letter Friday to US District Judge Loretta Preska in New York, London-based Burford said it intended to ask her to set Oct. 16 as the date it can begin efforts to execute the judgment and attach assets. Preska earlier this month ordered Argentina to pay the award over its 2012 expropriation of foreign investment in oil company YPF SA.
Latin America’s largest water utility is getting ready for a public share sale next year that would see Sao Paulo’s state government give up control, according to the company’s chief executive officer, Bloomberg News reported. Cia. de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo, known as Sabesp, has a “potential window” for the equity offering starting in mid-May, after Sabesp publishes its first-quarter financial results, and running until mid-August, Andre Salcedo said in an interview.
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Argentina's economy shrank 4.9% in the second-quarter of 2023 versus the year-ago period, the country's statistics agency said on Tuesday, slightly missing analysts' forecast of a 4.8% contraction and posting the first break in growth for years, Reuters reported. Tuesday's result marks the first time the country's growth was in the red since 2020. The agricultural sector registered the highest drop, with a 40.2% decrease compared to the same period the previous year.
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