Over 50% of Dominicans feel insecure over pandemic’s economic impact
Santo Domingo.- More than 50% of Dominicans feel insecure about the impact that COVID-19 will have on the economy, according to a survey by McKinsey & Company during the 7th week of shelter-in-place. In contrast, more than a 3rd of Dominicans are optimistic about the situation, while 8% are pessimistic and believe that the impact...
Dominican Republic issues US$727.3M of debt
RD. The Finance Ministry on Monday announced a special issue of internal debt of RD$40 billion (US$727.3 million) to deal with the pandemic. The bonds were purchased by four pension fund managers, Finance said in a statement. The securities, called COVID-19 economic stimulus emergency bonds, were purchased in equal parts by AFP Crecer,...
Claro Central America Sales Slide 4.5% In Q1, Mobile Subs Up 8%
America Movil’s combined Central American units, operating under the Claro brand, reported first-quarter revenues down 4.5 percent year on year to USD 583 million, due to an 18.2 percent slump in equipment sales attributed in part to curfew measures in some territories and a 2.1 percent fall in mobile service revenues. Regional...
Coronavirus: Mexico Factory Staff Question ‘Essential Work’
Factory workers in Ciudad Juárez rarely go on strike. Their labor rights are so weak that participating in a protest can cost them their job. So, when employees at the US-owned Regal motor factory organized a demonstration over having to work during a coronavirus outbreak, Mariana – not her real name – was initially...
Central America Power Trade Tumbles
Latest numbers from EOR, operator of Central America’s regional power market (MER), show a substantial drop in transactions amid depressed demand, as much of the region is on lockdown due to COVID-19. This month through April 19, energy sales and purchases slid 44.5% and 43.1%, respectively, to 114GWh and 116GWh. And although MER...
Design Thinking to Boost Online Sales for Women Entrepreneurs in Central America
Handicraft designers and business mentors from ITC partner institutions in six Central American countries have been trained to analyze target markets and adapt product designs to market trends so that they can boost online sales. The training, delivered by Fundación EOI, Spain’s premier business school and its FUNDESARTE...
Costa Rica to Start Reopening Economy May 1 as Infection Rate Slows
Costa Rica’s government said on Monday it will start reopening its economy and lifting some coronavirus-related social distancing measures from May 1, as the number of active infections has declined for 11 consecutive days. While parts of Latin America enter the toughest phase of the coronavirus pandemic, Costa Rica has been seeing...
Central America Feels the Pain of U.S. Layoffs and Lost Money Transfers
It was mid-March and New York City was going into lockdown, shuttering businesses and schools. Gleiry Fernández, who left her native Guatemala two years ago to find work in the largest city in the U.S., was starting to worry. Then the phone store where she worked as a customer service representative closed and laid her …...
First FTA Debate with South Korea Approved
The Foreign Relations Commission of the National Assembly approved this 23 April, in the first debate, the bill 305 ratifying the free trade agreement (FTA) between the Republic of Korea and the Republics of Central America. With this treaty, Panama has ample commercial opportunities, considering that South Korea is one of the...
COVID-19 Is Hitting Caribbean And Latin American Economies Hard. Can They Survive?
From three-month suspensions on loan repayments and utility payments in El Salvador to putting cash in the hands of laid-off Jamaican hotel workers, Latin American and Caribbean nations are unveiling financial aid packages to help stave off the economic crisis created by the coronavirus. But the bailouts – like the drastic sanitary...
