Argentine officials intend to lower a key target in the country’s $44 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund as a severe drought weakens the economic outlook, according to an Argentine government official, Bloomberg News reported. Both sides are discussing a smaller figure for net reserve accumulation in 2023, a cornerstone of the deal seen as the only major anchor providing some stability to the South American economy. Negotiators have met in Buenos Aires and Washington in recent weeks for the fourth review of the program.

Brazilian retailer Americanas SA on Thursday failed to reach a deal on proposal to creditors that included a multi-billion-real capital injection by key shareholders as part of its bankruptcy process, Reuters reported.

Brazil's economic activity increased by 2.9% in 2022, according to a central bank index released on Thursday, boosted by the services sector and defying earlier predictions of mild growth, but with recent months' performance showing loss of momentum, Reuters reported. After starting the previous year with a forecast of a 0.3% expansion for the Brazilian economy in 2022, private economists surveyed weekly by the central bank now project 3% growth, on the back of resilient services activity and a stronger labor market.

Investors are losing faith in Brazil’s corporate borrowers in the aftermath of Americanas SA’s implosion, defying reassurances that the century-old retailer’s collapse was a one-off with no broader implications, Bloomberg News reported. Instead, in just the few weeks since the default, power company Light SA, clothing retailer Marisa Lojas SA and travel-agency CVC Brasil have all hired advisers to restructure their debt.

Peru's economy slowed down for the second month in a row, missing forecasts for the last month of 2022, figures from the national statistics institute showed on Wednesday, as the country faces a wave of social unrest that began early December, Reuters reported. The Andean nation's gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.86% year-on-year in the month, while economists expected a 1.25% expansion, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll. Protests have rocked the world's No. 2 copper producing country, since the December 7 removal and arrest of former President Pedro Castillo.

Colombia’s steep growth slowdown late last year combined with large data revisions showed its economy is weaker than initially thought, posing a challenge for policymakers who are still grappling with the fastest inflation in over two decades, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product expanded 2.9% in the fourth quarter from the previous year and 0.7% from the prior quarter, the statistics agency said Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected year-on-year growth of 3.8%.

Brazil’s largest publicly-traded banks have set aside 9.3 billion reais ($1.8 billion) for potential losses tied to the collapse of retailer Americanas SA, which is adding to an increasingly complicated credit environment in the South American nation, Bloomberg News reported. While banks didn’t specifically name the retailer as the company responsible for higher provisions in their earnings statements, the impact of the firm’s sudden downfall after uncovering 20 billion reais in accounting “inconsistencies” last month is clear to see in fourth-quarter results.

Argentina’s inflation sped up more than expected in January as price controls prove ineffective, further complicating the government’s strategy ahead of presidential elections later this year, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 98.8% from a year earlier, more than the 98.6% median forecast from economists in a Bloomberg survey. Prices gained 6% from December, the second straight month of faster increases, according to government data published Tuesday. Higher costs of recreation, housing and communication propelled increases in January on a monthly basis.

Credit cards are becoming increasingly useless in Venezuela because of high inflation and government restrictions, hurting people already struggling to meet daily needs on low salaries, banking industry sources, analysts and consumers said, Reuters reported. The country's government imposed strict lending requirements during Venezuela's economic collapse - allowing banks to lend a maximum of 27% of their cash flow - sending local business owners abroad to seek loans.

Cut off from global credit markets, Argentina’s government is selling ever more local currency bonds, amassing a debt load that already totals 33 trillion pesos ($174 billion) and is rising almost exponentially, Bloomberg News reported. In one week, the Treasury will seek to roll over 300 billion pesos of debt, offering higher interest rates and shorter maturities to entice investors as they have in each of the previous four months.