Author: Nacuntos

In the first half of the year, exports of agricultural products increased by 4.5 percent compared to the same period in 2022. On Monday, the Brazilian Central Bank said that the financial market raised the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast from 2.19 percent to 2.24 percent in 2023, and from 1.28 to 1.3 percent in 2024. According to the bank’s weekly survey of analysts at the country’s leading financial institutions, at the start of this year, Brazil’s expected GDP growth for the year was a scant 0.8 percent. Analysts maintained their inflation estimate at 4.95 percent for this year and at 3.92 percent…

A Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy flotilla led by a Type 075 amphibious assault ship was recently spotted breaking the first island chain from straits south of Japan, marking the first time that this type of large warship was reported operating in vicinity of the island country. Likely a part of an untargeted routine exercise that demonstrates and further hones the vessels’ combat readiness, the voyage could also serve to give those with a guilty conscience a warning, including “Taiwan independence” secessionists and external interference forces, analysts said on Saturday. Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force spotted the PLA Navy flotilla…

NEW YORK/BUENOS AIRES, June 30 (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund said on Friday that Argentina is current in its payment obligations, after the government said it made a $2.7 billion payment to the fund using its existing stock of the IMF’s reserve assets, and Chinese currency. A spokesperson for Argentina’s economy ministry said the June payments were made “without using dollars” but instead with the country’s holdings of the fund’s special-drawing rights (SDRs) and Chinese yuan. The operation is expected to have depleted Argentina’s $1.65 billion in SDRs, according to a central bank source, “with yuan making up the…

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) on Friday launched the “Con Punche Peru Plan: Atencion a Emergencias (Attention to emergencies),” which includes a rapid execution of actions linked to prevention, infrastructure protection and resilience, on a national scale, in the face of the upcoming presence of a Coastal El Niño phenomenon. In this regard, Economy-Finance Minister Alex Contreras specified that preventive and corrective maintenance works will be carried out on road, sanitation, educational, hospital, and healthcare center infrastructure, which will require an investment of S/1.50 billion (about US$398 million). “The idea is to approve the reallocation of resources and assess all the necessary mechanisms…

(9/3 – 125) Kazakhstan is gearing up for snap elections of the lower house of parliament on March 19, and there is a sense of anticipation in the air. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who came to power in 2019, called for snap elections in the wake of the deadly street protests in January 2022. The elections are part of the president’s ambitious reform agenda, Jana Kazakhstan (New Kazakhstan), which aims to usher in a new era of political liberalization. The parliamentary elections are stage two of Tokayev’s program, following his re-election winning 80 percent of the votes last November. The coming…

LIMA, Peru (AP) — In an industrial corridor of Peru’s capital, a dingy stairwell leads to a second-floor safehouse. Dozens of Quechua and Aymara activists lie on mattresses strewn on the floor, resting up for more anti-government demonstrations as volunteers cook a breakfast of donated rice, pasta and vegetables. Among the makeshift refuge’s occupants is Marcelo Fonseca. The 46-year-old watched as a a friend was shot and killed in December as they battled security forces in the southern city of Juliaca. Within hours, Fonseca joined a caravan of demonstrators that descended on the capital, Lima, to demand the resignation of…

On Dec. 7, 2022, the people of Peru were shocked to watch a presidential announcement on their televisions declaring the dissolution of Congress and the establishment of an “emergency government.” In an effort to remain in power, President Pedro Castillo resolved what could be deemed as a ‘self coup d’etat,’ hindering the legislature’s rumored plans of impeachment due to irregularities in his mandate. After the president’s proclamation, almost all ministers and members of his cabinet quickly resorted to social media and the press to declare the resignation from their respective positions. Additionally, many also took the chance to condemn Castillo’s…

Aside from the EU and the US, the Department of Trade and Industry will pursue discussions for bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with Latin American countries Chile, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina to widen the reach of Philippine exports. Trad and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual told reporters the need to pursue more FTA talks to help improve the country’s exports. “We should start looking at South America like Argentina, the bigger ones Brazil, Chile, and Mexico of Central America,” he said. “Those are the ones that we can open. They will open their market to us and our market to…