Argentina’s government published on Friday the detailed plan for reducing its fiscal deficit and central bank financing as part of its pending $45 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. The agreement with IMF staff, announced Thursday, has now been submitted to Argentina’s congress and will go before a vote sometime in the coming weeks. The country will receive 7 billion ($9.8 billion) of the IMF’s special drawing rights upon approval by lawmakers and the executive board of the Washington-based organization, according to the document.

Brazil's economy expanded 0.5% in the three months to December, government statistics agency IBGE said on Friday, resulting in a 4.6% expansion of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, Reuters reported. The growth from the previous quarter was higher than the 0.1% forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. The 1.6% expansion over the fourth quarter of 2020 was also larger than the 1.1% rise projected.

A federal judge put in motion a sale process for Venezuela’s stake in Citgo Petroleum Corp. “up to and including selecting a winning bid,” even as the U.S. government continues to block any change in control of the Houston-based refiner, WSJ Pro Bankrupty reported. Judge Leonard Stark of the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del., approved a sale procedure for the shares of Citgo’s U.S. holding company, a valuable state asset controlled by the U.S.-backed opposition to Venezuela’s authoritarian regime. The shares can’t be transferred under current U.S.

Brazilian miner Vale SA will sign on Friday an agreement with local authorities in which it must pay 236.7 million reais ($46.0 million) for failing to meet a legal deadline to decommission its tailings dams in the state of Minas Gerais, a document seen by Reuters showed. According to the draft agreement, struck with the Minas Gerais state prosecutors, the company will also undertake a series of obligations to remove all of its upstream tailing dams.

Samarco Mineracao on Wednesday presented a new debt restructuring proposal it hopes can win the support of creditors at a meeting on March 10 and help take the Brazilian iron ore miner out of bankruptcy, Reuters reported. Creditors of the joint venture between Vale SA and BHP Group had been expected to vote on Wednesday on the latest proposals to restructure some $5 billion in debt. But due to a lack of quorum, the meeting was rescheduled, Samarco said in a statement.

Brazil's federal public debt grew 0.05% in January from December to 5.616 trillion reais ($1.12 trillion), the Treasury said on Wednesday, with interest rates rising as the central bank tightens monetary policy to fight double-digit inflation, Reuters reported. The average interest rate on the domestic federal debt increased to 8.9% in January from 8.49% in December, the Treasury said, and the average rate on the new domestic debt issued in the 12 months to January rose to 8.92% from 8.75%.

Argentina’s economy capped a strong second half of growth as it emerged from a long recession last year ahead of an expected new deal in the coming weeks with the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. Economic activity in December rose 0.9% from the prior month, in line with economists’ expectations. From a year ago, the economy expanded 9.8% in the final month of the year, according to government data published Wednesday. The annual figure was below expectations for an 11% gain. In December, tourism and transportation posted the largest annual gains.

Samarco Mineracao faces a possible creditor standoff at a meeting which has been scheduled for March 10 to vote on debt restructuring proposals which would allow the Brazilian iron ore miner to exit bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported. Creditors of the iron ore joint venture between Vale SA and BHP Group were expected to vote on Wednesday on the latest proposals to restructure some $5 billion in financial debt. But due to a lack of quorum, the meeting was rescheduled, Samarco said in a statement.

Chile’s incoming Finance Minister Mario Marcel pledged to reduce uncertainty and seek to control debt levels, as he gets ready to take the reins of the economy next month as part of the new administration of President-elect Gabriel Boric, Bloomberg News reported. Establishing a fiscal base that allows the new government to execute its plans is priority, Marcel told reporters in Santiago on Tuesday after a meeting with outgoing Finance Minister Rodrigo Cerda.

A group of Latam Airlines Group SA’s creditors said they are prepared to provide alternative financing if a bankruptcy judge rejects a financial lifeline from another creditor group, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The splinter group of creditors, which includes Pentwater Capital Management LP, Invictus Global Management LLC and Avenue Capital Group, said it is ready to backstop $400 million of a rights offering and roughly $3.27 billion in the sale of convertible notes.