Banking: The week in 10 stories

REGIONAL

BNamericas spoke with José Augusto de Castro, president of Brazil’s exporters association AEB, about opportunities and challenges Mercosur nations will encounter as result of the Mercosur-EU free-trade deal.

Latin American fintechs and banks engage in a misguided rivalry, experts agreed at the Pacific Alliance Business Summit. The two sectors are increasingly cooperating and both will be key to improve financial inclusion, the experts said. 

ARGENTINA

A regulatory push to boost the use of digital invoices will help drive down the cost of credit for SMEs and benefit the local factoring industry, BNamericas was told.

Chilean fund manager LarrainVial Asset Management forecasts that Argentina’s financial situation should become more solid during the second half of this year, thanks mainly to a stable exchange rate and a slowdown in inflation, but the improvements could be undermined by the October elections.

BRAZIL 

BNamericas looks at what’s next for the major pension reform the government is trying to get through congress to improve public finances and boost investor confidence.

CHILE

The infrastructure sector has an opportunity to play an important role in the country’s evolution toward a circular economy, even though more ambitious goals are required, according to the country’s representative for the COP25 climate conference, Gonzalo Muñoz.

COSTA RICA

Although still small compared to other countries in the region, Costa Rica’s fintech industry has seen the number of fintechs grow 400% since 2017, according to a study from regional fintech organization Finnovista and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

MEXICO

The commercial banking sector reported a loan book of 5.33tn pesos (US$279bn) at the end of May, an inflation-adjusted increase of 3.9% compared to the 12 months before.

PANAMA

Having taken office July 1, President Laurentino Cortizo must contend with a weak economy and corruption, while seeking to revitalize the country’s deteriorating infrastructure.

PERU

The fintech sector is likely to see an important milestone this year as the first major sector-specific regulation is expected to be implemented.