Better News for Chile’s Investors
The Republican Party of the “centre-right” has emerged victorious in the election to determine the members of the body responsible for drafting Chile’s new constitution. The Republican Party secured 22 of the 51 seats, with right-wing parties obtaining the remaining 11 seats. This constitutional assembly is to create a new constitution to supersede the one instituted during the military rule of General Augusto Pinochet. Last year, a referendum rejected a draft proposed by a previous assembly.…
Chile leads Latin America in global competitiveness
Chile’s National Evaluation and Productivity Commission will conduct a new study to assess priority sectoral permits for investment in order to propose substantial improvements in their efficiency, predictability, and stability. The National Evaluation and Productivity Commission (CNEP) received a new mandate from the Government of Chile to analyze priority sectoral permits for investment, identify barriers in the process, and propose efficiency, predictability, and stability improvements. This study aims…
How does Chile’s measure land values using different currency mechanisms ?
Chile measures land values using different currency mechanisms This post introduces a modern example of medium-unit divergence: the Chilean peso and Chile’s Unidad de Fomento or UF Like most modern currencies, the peso is issued by the nation’s central bank, the Banco Central de Chile. Local banks offer peso-denominated cheques and savings accounts. Chileans use these pesos as the nation’s medium of exchange. They pay their bills with pesos, settle rent, and buy food. The differences…
Chile’s economic success was no accident but is there change on the way ?
Chile has turned away from its earlier neo-liberal growth policies, described by many commentators as Chiles’s growth miracle. This year, Chile’s new leftwing government has been busy pacifying foreign investors who had worried about radical President Gabriel Boric’s expensive campaign promises. These concerns may have been overblown, as the fundaments remain the same, but we will see. The new government, however, believes it can lift spending by using tax reform to raise more revenue. Chile’s tax…
Chile to vote on Sunday to overhaul its constitution with radical changes or not
The proposed draft aims to replace the current constitution, first written during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990), but despite several successive reforms – is still considered an obstacle to what the left sees as necessary social changes. Education, health care and pensions are still in the hands of the private sector. But despite an overwhelming majority of Chileans – close to four-fifths – voting previously to rewrite the constitution, opinion polls suggest the new document will be rejected.…
Chile sours on its new President as the polls find economic alarm
Chileans’ support for both their new president Gabriel Boric Font and the institution rewriting the constitution is fading fast, according to a new poll. Chileans’ support for both their new president and the institution rewriting the constitution is fading fast, according to a poll that also highlighted mounting pessimism over the economy. Forty-six percent of citizens said they would reject the charter based on the information currently available, up ten percentage points from the prior week. By contrast,…
Foreign direct investment in Chile hits a record high in 2021
The Chilean Central Bank has released a revised version of its preliminary figures, showing that FDI increased 66% compared to the first half of 2020 to reach US$13.7 billion. This is an all-time high for the January-June period and is 98% above the historic average (US$7 billion). Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, in Chile during the twelve months of 2021 reached US$ 16,782 billion, the best amount since 2015, according to the Central bank which added it represented a 95% increase over 2020. Overall it…
Just how radical will the new President Gabriel Boric, Chile’s new president, turn out to be?
Many potential investors both local and foreign have been concerned then shocked at the unfolding swing left of Chilean politics with the results of the recent presidential elections. In many ways, it is mirroring US politics which also divided between the almost communist left of the Democratic Party to the anarchist side of the Republican Party. In light of this, we have been searching for feedback from middle-class Chileans of whom my opinion I trust to where Chile might be headed politically and more…
Bloomberg’s pessimistic outlook of Chile’s once shining future
For decades, Chileans watched from afar as their South American neighbours grappled with galloping inflation, financial crashes, and extreme political swings, destabilizing forces that compelled the wealthy to send hundreds of billions of dollars to havens in Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, or the U.S. But now, the long-stable Andean nation is getting a taste of that turmoil. A mix of social upheaval plans for a new constitution, and the most polarized election in recent memory is sapping Chileans’ faith…
Trade between China and Chile grows despite the global outlook
On November 5, the IV China International Import Expo (CIIE) will open in Shanghai. Chilean exporters have participated in this event for 3 consecutive years, promoting the strong growth of trade between both countries. President Piñera was the only president of Latin America to participate in a virtual way and make a speech at the inauguration of the III CIIE. Despite the fact that the whole world is affected by Covid-19, trade between China and Chile increased by 10,6% last year. In the first half of this…
Foreign direct investment in Chile hit a record high in the first half of 2021
The Chilean Central Bank has released a revised version of its preliminary figures, showing that FDI increased 66% compared to the first half of 2020 to reach US$13.7 billion. This is an all-time high for the January-June period and is 98% above the historic average (US$7 billion). Foreign direct investment (FDI) is going through a particularly dynamic time in Chile. According to figures released by the Chilean Central Bank, which revise a prior report issued on August 9th, the cumulative net FDI inflow…
Latin America Business: 2021 Growth Predictions Jump
In a highly positive sign for Latin America business and investment, the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has significantly raised its predictions for growth in the region during 2021, offering a strong indication of economic reactivation in the wake of the global pandemic. According to a newly released report from ECLAC, gross domestic product (GDP) in Latin America and the Caribbean is now expected to grow 5.9% overall, having been predicted to grow 5.2% in…
Climate for Business in Latin America Best in three Years: Report
The climate for doing business in Latin America is the best it has been in more than three years, according to a report released by a leading Brazilian economic institute. According to newly released analysis from the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), among ten major countries from Latin America, the overall business climate in the Q3 of 2021 is the best it has been since Q1 of 2018. That suggests the environment for doing business in Latin America is currently stronger than it was long before the…
Investing in Chile: FDI Hits Historic Record
Investing in Chile has hit a historic record in 2021, with $13.72 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) entering the country in the first six months of the year — a 66% increase on the same period last year. That figure far exceeds the $8.23 billion that entered the country in the entire of 2020 and represents the highest level of FDI witnessed in a six-month period since current recording methods began in 2003 (all figures in USD). The record was announced by Chile’s central bank and offers just the…
A snapshot of life in Chile today OECD Report
Chile has made tremendous progress over the last decade in terms of improving the quality of life of its citizens. Since the 1990s, the country has seen a track record of robust growth and poverty reduction. Notwithstanding, Chile performs well in only a few measures of well-being relative to most other countries in the Better Life Index. Chile ranks below the average in income and wealth, civic engagement, health status, jobs and earnings, housing, work-life balance, social connections, personal security,…
