Bloomberg Línea — As Covid-19 cases decline and the application of the vaccine progresses, the Dominican Republic is removing all restrictive measures imposed against the pandemic, including mask wearing, and becoming the first country in Latin America to do so.
And Ecuador is also rolling back restrictions, and which include the reopening of its border with Peru, which is scheduled to take place on Friday.
On the region’s stock markets, the only index to close with gains was Colombia’s Colcap, although with a marginal 0.02% increase, while Chile’s main index Ipsa (IPSA) saw the sharpest losses in the region, down 2.23%, and Brazil’s Ibovespa (IBOV), the leading index of the largest stock exchange by market capitalization in Latin America, closed with a drop of 1.43%, while Mexico’s S&P/BMV IPC index shed 1.80%
Following is a roundup of Thursday’s news from Bloomberg Línea and Bloomberg reporters across Latin America.
Argentina:
- The Central Bank’s board of directors has raised the monetary policy reference rate by 250 basis points and created the 180-day Liquidity Note (Notaliq), in order to offer a new medium-term instrument to absorb liquidity, official sources told Bloomberg Línea.
- In 2021, Argentine startups attracted $1.29 billion in private equity investments, according to the Latin American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA)
Brazil:
- In an interview with a radio station in the interior of Ceará, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the leader in opinion polls ahead of October’s elections, raised his tone of criticism against the country’s financial markets and criticized the profit of banks in the country.
Chile:
- Chile’s entertainment industry has raised its voice. After almost two years since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, various groups have launched a campaign to ask the government to put an end to capacity restrictions and event cancellations in the country.
Colombia:
- Colombian bondholders could face a difficult election period, if recent history in Chile and Peru is anything to go by, as Colombian dollar bonds are already down an average of about 4.6% so far this year.
- In an interview with Bloomberg Línea, Guillermo Rodríguez, manager of petrochemical firm Monómeros, which is based in Colombia but claimed by the government of Nicolás Maduro, reveals details of an attempted hostile takeover.
Costa Rica:
- Costa Rica begins 2022 with investments from a number of companies, inspired by the Central American country’s strategic location, with firms such as Triz Engineering, the Smart Fit chain, Infosys BPM, GoodMed and Taco Bell among those that are opening new stores in the country and hiring national talent.
Dominican Republic:
- As reported cases of Covid-19 decline and the application of the vaccine progresses, the Dominican Republic is removing all restrictive measures imposed against the pandemic, including mask wearing, and becoming the first country in Latin America to do so.
Ecuador:
- Ecuador will relax measures introduced to stem the spread of Covid-19, one of which is the reopening of the border with Peru, which will take place on Friday, February 18.
El Salvador:
- The use of bitcoin (XBT) as legal tender brings great risks, especially due to the high volatility of the price, said the International Monetary Fund team in El Salvador, led by Alina Carare.
Mexico:
- Jonathan Heath, deputy governor of Mexico’s central bank (Banxico), said Thursday before representatives of the business community that the country has an investment problem that is due to the Mexican government seeing private investors as enemies. This stance is keeping away private investment, which Mexico needs as a driver of growth, Heath said.