Brazilian retailers are struggling to survive long enough to enjoy the benefit of falling interest rates, Bloomberg News reported. The companies have high debt loads, as do their customers. Competition from online retailers like Amazon.com Inc. is heating up. And refinancing debt is more expensive at home and abroad as yields rise and the market digests an accounting scandal at Americanas SA, a nearly century-old company.

Zimbabwe gave up its unenviable position of having the world’s highest interest rate to Argentina, after slashing borrowing costs to help boost economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. The monetary policy committee cut the benchmark interest rate to 130% from 150%, which lags Argentina’s 133%. The MPC acted because of “emerging global risks and the need to keep exchange rate and inflation expectations anchored to support economic growth,” Governor John Mangudya said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

Argentina's central bank is planning to hold fire for now on any major policy adjustments after a shock win for the Peronist government in a general election on Sunday, two bank sources said, a sharp contrast to rapid moves after an August primary, Reuters reported. Economy Minister Sergio Massa outperformed in a first round election on Sunday to take pole position ahead of a run-off vote next month where he will face radical libertarian Javier Milei, who wants to dollarize the economy and shut the central bank.

Brazil’s troubled fertilizer maker Unigel Participacoes is proposing a two-year halt to all principal and interest payments on its international bonds as it seeks to avoid a looming default, Bloomberg News reported. The company is in talks with global bondholders before the existing 30-day grace period on a $23.2 million missed interest payment expires at the end of Nov. 1. The company has $530 million in outstanding dollar notes due in 2026.

Colombia’s central bank could put its credibility at risk if it rushed to cut interest rates prematurely, according to its newest board member, Bloomberg News reported. “There’s a big risk in easing early then having to reverse course,” co-director Olga Lucia Acosta said Tuesday, in her first interview since she was appointed by President Gustavo Petro last year. Brazil, Peru and Chile are all easing monetary policy as inflation cools across Latin America.

Brazil's Finance Ministry has not taken a stance on limiting installments for credit card payments, the ministry's executive secretary, Dario Durigan, said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The central bank unveiled on Monday a proposal to card issuers and retailers, suggesting a maximum of 12 interest-free installments for credit card payments and limiting interchange fees paid by merchants to credit card issuers.

Retail sales volumes in Brazil overshoot market expectations but still posted a small decrease in August on a monthly basis, statistics agency IBGE said on Wednesday, signaling the sector remains under pressure amid high borrowing costs, Reuters reported. In Latin America's largest economy, retail sales were down 0.2% in August from July, above the median forecast of a 0.7% decrease in a Reuters poll of economists but still in negative territory. The sector has been alternating between gains and losses this year as tight monetary policy keeps sales in check.

Argentina's central bank raised the country's benchmark interest rate to 145% from 118% on Thursday, a source close to the matter told Reuters, as the South American country battles triple-digit annual inflation. The hike follows the rapid freefall of Argentina's peso, with the currency surpassing the psychological barrier of 1,000 pesos per U.S. dollar earlier this week with less than two weeks before a crucial presidential election.

Chile’s finance minister played down the impact of one of the world’s worst currency routs on inflation, saying the short-term peso weakness is unlikely to divert the central bank’s plans to cut interest rates, Bloomberg News reported. The currency slump stems from global economic factors such as the appreciation of the dollar as the Federal Reserve turns more hawkish, meaning any pressure on domestic prices will be relatively small, Mario Marcel said in an interview from the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting in Morocco.

In the latest blow to Binance’s global ambitions, a Brazilian congressional committee has recommended the indictment of four of the company’s senior leaders, including its founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, Bloomberg News reported. The committee, which had been conducting a probe into crypto-related ponzi schemes in Brazil, can only make suggestions. Brazilian police will decide whether to proceed with actual indictments.