Bloomberg Línea — Argentina’s inflation was 50.9% in 2021, a figure confirmed with the addition of data for the month of December, when the monthly rise was 3.8%, exceeding analysts’ expectations.
Chile’s President-elect Gabriel Boric, who takes office on March 11, has issued a wake-up call to investors, warning that the South American country’s consumer spending boom is unsustainable and that government finances are under pressure in what is considered one of the region’s strongest and most stable economies.
Following is a roundup of Thursday’s news from our reporters across Latin America.
Argentina
December inflation was 3.8%, bringing it to 50.9% for the whole of 2021. The December figure was above the forecast of private consulting firms, which pointed to inflation of between 3.4% and 3.6% for the month.
Argentine company Innova Space launched the first communications ‘pico’ satellite in the country’s history. The mini satellite, which weighs 461g, is also the first of its kind to be launched by a Latin American nation, and is designed to provide Internet-of-Things connectivity to rural parts of Argentina. The craft was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket belonging to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and is the first of a planned constellation of 130 satellites to be launched in the coming months.
Chile
President-elect Gabriel Boric has issued a wake-up call to investors, warning that Chile’s consumer spending boom is unsustainable and that government finances are under pressure, delivering a reality check on one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and one of the most stable in Latin America, Bloomberg reported. Boric, a 35-year old former student leader, takes office on March 11.
Local creditors of Latam Airlines Group are outraged by a bankruptcy plan that would leave them with virtually nothing even though foreign bondholders will recover almost all their money. Investors are threatening legal action if their demands are not met.
Colombia
Colombian entrepreneurship is recovering, with a total of 307,679 new companies launched in the country during 2021, a 10.6% increase compared to 2020. The figure almost reaches 2019 levels, when 309,463 companies were created, according to the Business Creation Dynamics Report drawn up by Colombia’s Confederation of Chambers of Commerce (Confecámaras).
The presidents of Colombia, Iván Duque, and Peru, Pedro Castillo, will sign more than 100 commitments to strengthen bilateral relations during a meeting in Bogotá, as well as agreements to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants of both countries and promote economic reactivation.
Ubits, a Colombian, Y Combinator-backed corporate training platform, has closed a $25 million Series B financing round. The round was led by Riverwood Capital, with participation from Owl Ventures, a prestigious California-based edtech fund, as well as Endeavor Catalyst, Roble Ventures, Salkantay and Amador Holdings.
Mexico
Wind energy companies in Mexico have welcomed the proposal by the National Energy Control Center (Cenace) to develop more transmission infrastructure and increase renewable electricity generation in the country. Cenace director general Ricardo Mora Palomino said in an interview with Bloomberg Línea earlier this month that the country should return to a pre-energy reform ‘open season’ model to tender electricity infrastructure projects such as transmission lines, to enable more renewable projects to connect to the grid.
Canada will join Mexico in formally disputing how the United States interprets the rules governing the origin of vehicle parts under the trilateral USMCA free trade agreement between the three countries.
Meanwhile, senators on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee have demanded that President Joe Biden’s administration apply the “tough new” trade compliance tools within the USMCA to bring Canada and Mexico into compliance in several areas.
Panama
Supermercados Xtra is bidding farewell to Southern Cross Group. The company and its founding shareholders completed the repurchase of 53,000 shares owned by SOUQ Investments, which was equivalent to 53% of the issued shares.
Venezuela
In an interview with Bloomberg Linea, the president of Venezuela’s interim government, Juan Guaidó, talked about the possibility of achieving a free electoral process this year. “Can we activate a plebiscitary mechanism for the people to decide that Maduro should leave? It has to be activated, the problem is how to activate it,” he said.
