Uruguay's central bank is likely to cut its benchmark interest rate again at its next monetary policy meeting in October as inflation has fallen to a near two-decade low, governor Diego Labat told Reuters on Friday, Reuters reported. The South American country has led the region's pivot to rate cutting after sharp hikes by central banks around Latin America in recent years to rein in prices, an aggressive tightening cycle that helped many get inflation under control.

Former Americanas Chief Executive Miguel Gutierrez denies any knowledge of accounting irregularities during the two decades he was at the helm of the Brazilian retailer, he said in a letter sent to congressional investigators, Reuters reported. Gutierrez never "participated, authorized, ordered, tolerated or became aware of any act tending to manipulate the company's accounting or to enable any type of fraud", he said in the Sept. 4 letter sent to the congressional committee investigating the company's near-collapse and viewed by Reuters.

Chile's central bank on Wednesday lowered the top end of its estimate for the country's economic performance in 2023, saying it now forecasts gross domestic product (GDP) to show no growth in the most optimistic scenario, Reuters reported. The monetary authority previously expected an economic expansion of as much as 0.25% this year. It maintained the lower end of its GDP forecast at a contraction of 0.5%. The lowered estimate accounts for the impact of operational issues that have hit mining production in Chile, the world's largest copper producer, in recent months, the central bank said.

Industrial production in Brazil slipped by more than expected in July, data from government statistics agency IBGE showed on Tuesday, providing an initial sign the sector may cap economic growth in the third quarter, Reuters reported. Industry was key for the surprisingly strong growth recorded by Latin America's largest economy in the three months through June, but overall it has been stuttering this year as the sector grapples with high interest rates. In July, IBGE said, industrial output was down 0.6% from June, missing the median forecast of a 0.3% drop in a Reuters poll of economists.

Peru lowered its economic growth forecasts for 2023 and 2024 on Tuesday amid poor weather, lower private investment in mining, and anti-government protests earlier this year, Reuters reported. The South American country's economy is expected to grow 1.1% this year, the economy ministry said in Peru's official gazette. That is down from a previous estimate of 2.5%, after data showed the economy shrank in the first half of 2023. That would mark the slowest annual growth since 2009, excluding coronavirus-dampened 2020.

Argentina’s central bank expects monthly inflation in August to have accelerated to almost double the pace of July after the government devalued the peso, two officials said in another sign the economy is quickly deteriorating, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank estimates consumer prices will increase at least 10.6% from July, the fastest monthly rate since Argentina was coming out of hyperinflation more than three decades ago, the officials said, asking not to be named citing preliminary internal high frequency data and private online researchers like PriceStats.

Chile’s central bank sees its policy outlook largely unchanged by a drop in the peso and the potential inflation impact from recent devastating floods, the institution’s vice president said in an interview, Bloomberg News reported. Chile’s monetary easing, combined with doubts over the Chinese economy that’s a key buyer of the country’s commodities and hawkishness of the Federal Reserve have weighed on the currency, Pablo Garcia said from Jackson Hole, where central bankers gathered for a global symposium hosted by the Fed.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Wednesday defended its plan to cut off a Puerto Rican lender's access to the U.S. central banking system following a federal crackdown on banks with links to Venezuela, Reuters reported. In July, Banco San Juan Internacional (BSJI) sued the New York Fed to halt the looming termination of its "master account," which lets banks access the Fed's electronic payment system, because of concerns about its compliance with U.S. sanctions and anti-money laundering rules.

The International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved a $7.5 billion disbursement to Argentina on Wednesday, extending a financial lifeline to the cash-strapped government ahead of a tight presidential race, Bloomberg News reported. The cash payments are part of a refinanced $44 billion program, the lender’s largest, that endured months of negotiations amid political uncertainty and wrangling over economic policy.

Brazil has submitted a proposal to Argentina aimed at securing Chinese yuan guarantees for Brazilian exports to the neighboring country in an initiative involving state-run lender Banco do Brasil , Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said yesterday, Reuters reported. Banco do Brasil under the proposal would oversee the conversion of yuan back into Brazilian reais, based on provided guarantees, Haddad told a press conference in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the BRICS nation summit.