Bloomberg Línea — Chinese vaccine manufacturer Sinovac Biotech broke ground on the construction of its vaccine packaging plant on Thursday in the commune of Quilicura, north of Santiago’s Metropolitan Region. This is Sinovac’s first plant in Latin America, and which will receive an investment of $100 million.
The Bank of Mexico has increased interest rates by half a percentage point, in a widely expected move to control inflation that is at its highest level in more than two decades, raising the rate to 7%, as predicted by 23 of the 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
On the region’s stock markets, Brazil’s stock market uncoupled from the losses in the United States, with the Ibovespa (IBOV) index benefiting from the quarterly reports of the banking sector and recovering 105,000 points on Thursday.
Following is a roundup of Thursday’s news from Bloomberg Línea and Bloomberg reporters across Latin America.
Argentina:
- Argentine energy and oil company YPF, in which the government is the major shareholder‚ posted first quarter net profits of $248 million, contrasting with losses of $25 million in the same period of 2021. Production increased 16% and investments grew by 50% during the quarter.
Bolivia:
- Ariel Valverde, CEO of Yaigo for Bolivia and Paraguay, has lamented the lack of government support in Bolivia for technology-based companies.
Brazil:
- Dock, a Brazilian technology platform for payments and banking services, announced Thursday that it raised US$110 million in a round led by Lightrock and Silver Lake Waterman, with the participation of existing investors Riverwood Capital, Viking Global Investors and Sunley House Capital. With the round, the company’s valuation rises to $1.5 billion, making it Latin America’s second new unicorn this week, and the 44th in total.
Chile:
- Chinese vaccine manufacturer Sinovac Biotech broke ground on the construction of its vaccine packaging plant on Thursday in the commune of Quilicura, north of Santiago’s Metropolitan Region. This is Sinovac’s first plant in Latin America, and which will receive an investment of $100 million.
Colombia:
- The Justo & Bueno discount supermarket chain has gone into bankruptcy after its failure of procure a muli-million-dollar investment that would have allowed it to meet its debt commitments.
Ecuador:
- Ecuador has defined its external financing sources for 2022. A total of $4.42 billion is on the way by the end of the year, with the main source being the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which approved the fourth and fifth review of the agreement signed in September 2020, and which will unlock $1.7 billion for the country’s coffers.
Honduras:
- The country’s Congress on Thursday approved an energy law proposed by the government that aims to guarantee access to electricity “in the public interest of national security and as an economic and social right”.
Mexico:
- The Bank of Mexico has increased interest rates by half a percentage point, in a widely expected move to control inflation that is at its highest level in more than two decades, raising the rate to 7%, as predicted by 23 of the 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Peru:
- Peru has been suspended from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) due to government delays in filing reports to the organization. According to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the report could not be completed due to the rotation of key officials in the entity. The IMF has warned about the weakening of the Peruvian civil service.
Uruguay:
- Uruguayan butter exports, which in January and February were exclusively destined for Russia and recorded a general drop in March following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, experienced an uptick in April both at the level of export values and volume.
Venezuela:
- Venezuela is emerging from economic crisis with some sectors beginning to report growth, following the economy’s nearly 80% contraction over the past eight years, although the industrial sector remains precarious.