News of interest

COLOMBIA ELECTIONS 2022

Jubilant Gustavo Petro elected Colombia's first leftist president

20-06-2022 14:35 Ex-guerrilla Gustavo Petro elected Colombia's first ever left-wing president after defeating millionaire businessman rival Rodolfo Hernández in run-off.

Latin America

Ex-guerrilla takes on maverick in race to be Colombia's president

18-06-2022 01:20 A former leftist guerrilla and a millionaire businessman will go head-to-head on Sunday hoping to become the new president of Colombia.

Colombia Election 2022

Colombians set to vote in high stakes presidential run-off

17-06-2022 18:22 Colombians vote Sunday in a presidential run-off. Opinion polls have leftist Gustavo Petro and businessman Rodolfo Hernández neck-and-neck.

MONETARY POLICY

Argentina raises benchmark rate to 52% as inflation stays hot

16-06-2022 16:54 Central Bank raises benchmark interest rate for the sixth time this year as the government struggles to cool inflation expectations.

WORLD ECONOMY

How do interest rates affect the real economy?

16-06-2022 12:42 Faced with the highest inflation in four decades, central banks in the United States, eurozone and UK are hiking interest rates in order to contain inflation.

COLOMBIA ELECTIONS 2022

Colombian outsider makes run-off with real shot at presidency

31-05-2022 11:18 Rodolfo Hernández, who was little known at the start of the year, surged into Colombia’s presidential run-off – and he now has a real chance at winning against leftist rival Gustavo Petro.

BLOOMBERG

Colombia’s number one banker has no fear of leftist front-runner

19-05-2022 08:00 Luis Carlos Sarmiento Gutiérrez would figure to be one of the people fretting the most about the looming election of the first left-wing leader in Colombia’s modern history. But, at least publicly, he betrays little angst about the outcome of the vote this month.

BLOOMERG

Central Bank raises key rate to 49% as inflation jumps

12-05-2022 20:19 Central Bank to raise interest rates for the fifth time this year in a bid to keep up with rising inflation.

BRAZILIAN ECONOMY

Brazil hikes key interest rate 10th straight time

04-05-2022 21:13 Brazil's Central Bank raises key interest rate for the 10th straight time, trying to tame surging inflation that has proved tough to slow for policy makers.

BLOOMBERG

Central Bank raises key rate to 47% as inflation soars

13-04-2022 20:52 Central Bank raises interest rates for the fourth time this year after inflation data shows prices increasing at the fastest monthly pace in 20 years.

CENTRAL BANK

Argentina's Central Bank raises key rate to 44.5% as inflation heats up

23-03-2022 15:42 Central Bank raises benchmark rate for the third time this year as inflation continues to speed up.

BLOOMBERG

Argentina’s Central Bank raises key rate to 42.5%

18-02-2022 03:00 Second rate hike this year; IMF staff have called for interest rates in Argentina to exceed annual inflation.

Bloomberg

The carry trade is minting big returns in Latin America again

09-02-2022 15:32 The carry trade is roaring back in Latin America, home to some of the world’s most aggressive inflation-fighting central banks.

INFLATION ON RISE

Chile's Central Bank hikes rates again as inflation hits 14-year high

27-01-2022 08:06 Chile's Central Bank announces a third successive hike in its benchmark interest rate in a bid to contain inflation, which is at a 14-year high.

BLOOMBERG – INTERVIEW

Colombia presidential front-runner Gustavo Petro seeks global anti-oil bloc

17-01-2022 06:59 Colombia’s presidential front-runner Gustavo Petro is calling on ideological allies across Latin America and the world to join him in forming a new bloc to lead the economy away from fossil fuels.

BLOOMBERG

Central Bank hikes rate for first time in a year

07-01-2022 01:41 Argentina raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in over a year as it faces calls from the International Monetary Fund to tighten its monetary policy.

Bloomberg

Argentina’s Central Bank weighs rate hike amid IMF talks

15-12-2021 09:12 Central Bank weighing first interest rate increase in over a year as it seeks to bring borrowing costs closer to inflation amid talks with the IMF.

BRAZIL CENTRAL BANK

Brazil hikes interest rate by most in two decades

27-10-2021 21:42 Brazil's Central Bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 150 basis points Wednesday – its biggest hike since 2002 as it struggles to tame surging inflation.

BLOOMBERG – ANALYSIS

Brazil tightens most in tears, with 150 points now and December

27-10-2021 21:40 Brazil’s Central Bank delivered its biggest interest rate increase in almost two decades and pledged another equally large move for December, as it fights alone against deteriorating inflation expectations and growing fiscal concerns.

BLOOMBERG – ANALYSIS

The problem with Latin America’s rate hikes: they barely work

09-09-2021 14:25 From Brazil to Mexico, banks tighten faster than global peers; Unstable politics and off-the-books economies limit the impact

Bloomberg

Government speeds up money printing ahead of election

28-07-2021 17:00 Central Bank was printing money for the Treasury at the fastest pace so far this year in July.

Bloomberg

Not even 50% inflation will make Argentina boost interest rates

23-07-2021 16:47 Central Bank rules out increasing interest rates for the foreseeable future, even as currency pressures mount and annual inflation climbs above 50%.

Bloomberg

Latin America rate hike pressure grows as Chile signals lift-off

24-06-2021 09:11 A shift toward tighter monetary policy is quickly taking shape across Latin America. Central banks played a crucial role in the region’s economic response to multiple waves of the coronavirus.

BLOOMBERG – ANALYSIS

Six sovereign defaults in 13 months roil Latin American markets

13-05-2021 10:21 Sovereign bond defaults have piled up at a dizzying clip in Latin America since the coronavirus pandemic began.

RATE RISE

Brazil hikes interest rate, eyeing inflation

18-03-2021 11:39 First rate hike in six years for Latin America's biggest economy. Central Bank indicates another hike of the same magnitude could be coming in May.

BLOOMBERG

Argentina hikes rates after prices surge past expectations

12-11-2020 23:56 Central Bank hikes interest rates after October inflation report showed consumer prices surged at the fastest pace this year.

BLOOMBERG

Argentina turns to orthodox policy signals to ease dollar craze

06-11-2020 09:12 After tightening capital controls several times, Argentina's government has surprised investors by altering its tack in what appears to be an incipient effort to restore confidence.

Coronavirus pandemic

Congress approves bill saying Covid-19 vaccine is in public interest

31-10-2020 08:27 Senate approve bill declaring research and development, manufacture and purchase of vaccines against the novel coronavirus to be of public interest.

Bloomberg

Argentina is slowly shifting its monetary policy instrument

21-10-2020 18:27 Argentina is changing its monetary policy, Bloomberg reports, uniting two different benchmark rates of interest in a bid to reduce the cost of eliminating excess peso liquidity on the market.