Latin America Macro Basics

COVID-19 impacted all economies, reaching historical lows, in April 2020. By May, industrial production started to regain strength. During the second half of the year, values begin to look like figures pre pandemic. Recent values show Argentina's as one of the greastest...

In response to the uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Latin America's economies showed an increase in their sovereign spread, with Argentina having the second-highest rate (4,361 bps, lower than Venezuela's 3,500 bps). As the year went through and the pandemic's first wave winded down, LAC's risk premia moved downward and, eventually, stabilized. Argentina did not share the same luck as its neighbors. Although its country risk dropped after the debt exchange (September 2020), since then it has moved upwards, reaching 1,505 bps by early June. Investors seem very wary about the creditworthiness of Argentina's national government: for them, (another) sovereign default seems likely to...

After the big fall caused by the COVID-19 break out in April 2020, South American economies fell sharply. Nowadays, most of them are mostly recovered and show similar pre-pandemic numbers. Although not all economies are fully recovered. Perú, which economy fell the most, recovered by leaps and bounds even though its monthly printing shows a negative variation (-1,5% MoM). On the other hand, Paraguay register accelerated the most in LATAM (+4.54%...