Peru's economy grew 4.55% year on year in October, the government statistics agency INEI said on Wednesday, as the world's second-largest copper producer saw a slowdown in growth after the economy recovered to pre-pandemic levels, Reuters reported. The growth level is the lowest since March and in line with a forecast from the central bank, which said on Friday that economic growth was likely to have lost steam and grow between 4% and 6%. INEI added that Peru's economy had grown 15.99% in the first ten months of the year.

Peru's economy is likely to have lost steam in October, the central bank said on Friday, estimating it would have grown between 4% and 6% in the period, the lowest rate since March, when the economy started rebounding from the pandemic, Reuters reported. Economic expectations from the business sector have also deteriorated, the bank's head of economic studies, Adrian Armas, said in a conference call. Peru on Thursday lifted its benchmark interest rate for the fifth month in a row, to 2.5% from 2%, amid persistent inflation.

Avianca, one of Latin America’s largest airlines, is emerging from bankruptcy protection after winning court approval for its reorganization plan a year and a half after the Covid-19 pandemic decimated the region’s air carriers, Bloomberg News reported. Avianca, which is headquartered in Bogota, said it is exiting the restructuring process after raising fresh investments of $1.7 billion. It also comes out of bankruptcy with “significantly” reduced debt and more than $1 billion of liquidity, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Brazil’s economy fell into recession as extreme weather conditions, high interest rates and inflation cut short its recovery from the pandemic, dealing a blow to President Jair Bolsonaro just as he prepares for his re-election campaign, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product fell 0.1% in the July-September period after posting a revised decline of 0.4% in the second quarter. From a year ago, the economy expanded 4%, the national statistics agency said on Thursday. The downturn shows mounting challenges for Latin America’s largest economy.

Brazilian airline Azul SA confirmed on Monday that it made an offer earlier this month to combine with Chile’s LATAM Airlines Group , which is in bankruptcy proceedings, but said it had since decided to focus on its own operations, Retuers reported. In an exchange filing published late on Sunday, Azul said that it would consider potential partnerships only in the future. The Brazilian airline said its non-binding proposal submitted on Nov. 11 had included around $5 billion in equity financing and was backed by some creditors of LATAM.

Chile's LATAM Airlines Group SA said on Friday that it has filed a reorganization plan, proposing an $8.19 billion infusion of capital into the group, in a bid to exit its chapter 11 protection, Reuters reported. The financing proposal will include a mix of new equity, convertible notes and debt, the group said in a statement, adding that it intends to launch an $800 million equity rights offering to shareholders, upon confirmation of the plan.

Argentina’s economy expanded more than expected in September as tourism, manufacturing and construction picked up, offsetting political volatility that followed the government’s defeat in primary elections, Bloomberg News reported. Economic activity rose 1.2% from the previous month, double the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey. From a year ago, growth slowed to 11.6%, according to government data published Tuesday. The government’s loss in the Sept.

Argentina's government plans to agree on its new multiyear economic plan with International Monetary Fund staff before sending the proposal to Congress, Economy Minister Martin Guzman said on local radio on Friday, Reuters reported. "First, we will seek to reach an agreement with IMF staff, and then it will be sent to Congress for ratification," the minister said in comments to local station Radio Con Vos. Earlier in the day, a government source, who asked not to be named, outlined the same plans in an interview with Reuters. The IMF did not respond to a request for comment.

Shares in Brazilian state-run power company Eletrobras plunged on Wednesday after it reported third-quarter net income of 965 million reais ($175.4 million), down 66% year-on-year, hit mainly by provisions relating to ongoing litigation, Reuters reported. The lawsuits relate to a compulsory energy loan program, which required industrial energy customers to provide money to pay for Brazil's electricity sector. The government promised to repay the companies but this has been repeatedly postponed.

Peru is joining the global push to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC), central bank President Julio Velarde said on Tuesday, as policymakers worldwide seek to keep pace with fast-spreading cryptocurrencies, Reuters reported. Speaking at a conference with business leaders in Lima, Velarde said that Peru's central bank is working with the central banks of India, Singapore and Hong Kong in developing a CBDC. "We are not going to be the first, because we don't have the resources to be first and face those risks," Velarde said, "But we don't want to fall behind.