Bloomberg Línea — Argentine unions representing various sectors, including the meat and poultry and fisheries industries, have achieved salary hikes following negotiations with the government, and in some cases of as much as 50%, which will be progressively applied during the coming months.
Bitcoin is having trouble gaining traction in El Salvador, the first country to adopt it as legal tender, with many Salvadorans reportedly having stopped using the government’s bitcoin wallet, known as Chivo, and only a small fraction are reportedly using crypto for remittances, taxes or for everyday purchases.
Following is a roundup of Tuesday’s news from Bloomberg Línea and Bloomberg reporters across Latin America.
Argentina:
- Argentine unions representing various sectors, including the meat and poultry and fisheries industries, have achieved salary hikes following negotiations with the government, and in some cases of as much as 50%, which will be progressively applied during the coming months.
- In investment news, Waterplan, a company founded by four Argentines that uses artificial intelligence to make water use more efficient for different companies, closed a $7 million investment round led by Transition Global (David and Ari Helgason) and Giant Ventures., as well as actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
Brazil:
- High interest rates and political and social instability around the world are affecting emerging companies, and venture capital investors are now looking to adjust valuations. This has affected hundreds of Brazilian unicorn workers, and billion-dollar tech companies QuintoAndar, Loft, Facily and Creditas have begun to lay off some of their staff.
Chile:
- Chile’s massive copper mines are turning to the sea as freshwater supplies become scarce. But a new report shows that the trend comes at a considerable cost due to the high energy consumption the process entails.
Colombia:
- Colombia closed 2021 with 39.2% of its population in monetary poverty, a reduction of 3.2 percentage points compared with 2020, when the figure was 42.5%. However, the 2021 figure remained above that seen in 2019, of 35.7%.
Dominican Republic:
- The Dominican Republic has one of the highest gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates in the region, and enjoys political and democratic stability, in addition to possessing a strategic geographic location, all of which are characteristics that give it the potential to be a cradle of unicorns.
Ecuador:
- The presidents of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, and Peru, Pedro Castillo, will meet on Friday in the city of Loja, in southern Ecuador, in a bid to deepen the bilateral dialogue and political coordination.
- Everything indicates that the next disbursement of $700 million for Ecuador by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is close to being carried out, according to both the IMF and the Ecuadorian government.
El Salvador:
- Bitcoin is having trouble gaining traction in El Salvador, the first country to adopt it as legal tender, with many Salvadorans reportedly having stopped using the government’s bitcoin wallet, known as Chivo, and only a small fraction are reportedly using crypto for remittances, taxes or for everyday purchases.
Mexico:
- Mexico’s GDP could grow in the first quarter of the year more than during any of the quarters of last year, although the economy will still remain on the path of a weak recovery and far from the 3.4% growth that the government had expected to achieve by the end of the year.
Panama:
- Panama City mayor José Luis Fábrega is facing a backlash that threatens his tenure, with a petition for his resignation having garnered 198,920 signatures, The mayor won the 2019 campaign with a slim majority of around 175,000 votes in the Panamanian capital.
Peru:
- Fertilizer shortages have worsened and have become a major problem, threatening food security globally. Peru is already struggling with a deficit of 180,000 tons of urea so far this year, which puts at risk the 2022-2023 agricultural harvest, and which could affect close to 500,000 farmers in the country.
