Bloomberg Línea — Chile’s Finance Ministry forecasts GDP growth of 1.5% in 2022, a forecast that is a significant downward revision from the 3.5% estimated in the previous report, from the fourth quarter of 2021, released during President Boric’s predecessor Sebastián Piñera’s administration.
Colombia’s exports totaled $4.96 billion in March, up by 48.6% compared with the same month of 2019, prior to the outbreak of the pandemic.
On the region’s stock markets, Argentina’s Merval index (MERVAL) recovered from Monday’s losses and had the best performance in Latin American on Tuesday, boosted by the performance of shares of companies such as Transener (TRAN)), Banco BBVA Argentina (BBAR), Banco Macro (BMA) and Loma Argentina (LOMA).
Mexico’s stock exchange (MEXBOL) had the worst performance in the region, closing down 1.6%, while Brazil’s Ibovespa (IBOV) also closed lower, prior to an expected announcement this week by the country’s central bank regarding its interest rate adjustment.
Following is a roundup of Tuesday’s news from Bloomberg Línea and Bloomberg reporters across Latin America.
Argentina:
- Argentine fintech startup Ualá has bought e-commerce platform Empretienda, its CEO Pierpaolo Barbieri said in a telephone interview, but who declined to disclose the value of the transaction.
Brazil:
- Brazilian fintech Nubank (NU) could come under increased pressure as it nears the end of a multibillion-dollar freeze on its shares. The restriction on the sale of shares in the digital bank ends on May 17, following the release of first-quarter results, and a total of $26 billion in shares could trade on the market as a result, according to estimates by Bloomberg based on the prospectus and other regulatory documents
Chile:
- Chile’s Finance Ministry is increasingly pessimistic about the country’s finances. According to the first public finances report from the government of President Gabriel Boric, presented to the Senate on Tuesday, Gross Domestic Product will grow 1.5% in 2022, a forecast that is a significant downward revision from the 3.5% estimated in the previous report, from the fourth quarter of 2021, during Boric’s predecessor Sebastián Piñera’s administration.
Colombia:
- Colombia’s exports were valued at $4.96 billion in March, up by 48.6% compared with the same month of 2019, prior to the outbreak of the pandemic.
- Central bank governor Leonardo Villar told a Senate commission Tuesday that he expects inflation to fall from the second quarter of this year, having recorded an 8.53% advance year-on-year in March.
Costa Rica:
- The Costa Rican Tourism Board is working to promote Costa Rica as an adventure tourism destination to Canadian visitors. Canada is the second most important North American market for Costa Rica, after the U.S., while adventure tourism is reportedly the third reason visitors land in the country, according to Costa Rica Tourism Institute (ICT) estimates.
Ecuador:
- The government’s economic priority for its second year in office will be productivity and agriculture, President Guillermo Lasso said Tuesday in his weekly address to the nation.
Mexico:
- Deputy governor of the central bank, Jonathan Heath, said that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is within his rights to present a plan to help fight inflation, but warned that price controls only work in the short term.
- Mexico has 9.3 years of proven oil reserves remaining, according to the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH).
Peru:
- Chile’s Banco de Crédito e Inversiones (Bci), one of the country’s largest, has received the necessary permission from Peru’s banking watchdog Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS) to enter the neighboring country as a multi-operation bank.
Uruguay:
- Uruguayan payment services company dLocal Ltd.plans to use part of its growing amount of cash to accelerate its expansion in developing countries through acquisitions. The company, which in December tripled its cash reserves to $336 million, is now targeting Africa and Asia for possible acquisitions.
