Global Economy Briefing — August 20, 2026
Global economy: Global bonds steadied after the U.S. Treasury doubled long-bond buybacks, easing yields and weighing on the dollar, while Brazil’s 14%
Market Snapshot
August 20, 2026 — 10:34 BRTLatest News
View All →Gerdau Drops 4.5% as Steel Tariffs Fail to Lift Brazil
Gerdau's ADR slid 4.50% and CSN fell 2.22% on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, even as Ternium rose 0.58%....
Rio’s Former Assembly Speaker Goes on Trial Over a Tipped-Off Police Raid
The Rodrigo Bacellar trial proceeds at the STF over alleged obstruction of a Comando Vermelho investigation, after a...
Brazil Court Orders Retailer Casas Bahia to Rehire Workers
A Brasilia labor judge ordered Casas Bahia to reverse its August mass layoffs within five days, as a...
Three in Ten Uruguayans Feel Poor Even as New Money Arrives
Uruguay's official income poverty rate is 16.6 percent, but about three in ten people say they feel poor....
Colombia Markets: COLCAP & the Peso — August 20, 2026
Colombia's COLCAP index slipped 0.30% while the peso strengthened 0.86% against the dollar. What drove the session and...
Argentina Markets: Merval & the Peso — August 20, 2026
Argentina's Merval stock index fell while the peso slipped against the dollar as investors took profits. See the...
Mexico Markets: IPC & the Peso — August 20, 2026
Mexico's S&P/BMV IPC stock index rose 0.41% and the peso strengthened past 17 per dollar as mining names...
Brazil Markets: Ibovespa & the Real — August 20, 2026
Brazil's Ibovespa broke its 11-day losing streak, closing up 0.90% at 167,830 points. The real gained and USD/BRL...
Brazil’s Financial Morning Call for Thursday, August 20, 2026
Ibovespa: Copom bets and a Thursday CMN meeting set the tone for B3. Into the open, watch the...
Grains Rally: Wheat Leads, Soy and Corn Rise
Wheat, soybean and corn trackers climbed on Wednesday, August 19, 2026. Brazil's second-crop harvest and Chinese soybean demand...
Bitcoin Surges 7%: Trump, Stablecoins and LatAm
Bitcoin jumped 7.09% to US$69,266 and Ethereum soared 17.48% as Trump urged Senate passage of the CLARITY Act....
Vale Puts ABB Robotics Into More Iron Ore Plants After Big Gains
Vale and ABB have expanded their partnership to put automation and AI into Brazilian iron ore plants. One...
Free Mozart Near Buenos Aires: Six Nights of The Magic Flute in La Plata
The Magic Flute in La Plata: six free performances from 21 August at the Teatro Argentino. Booking for the first weekend opened at noon today.
Panama Jazz Festival Sets Its 24th Edition for January 2027
Rio de Janeiro Daily Brief — Thursday, August 20, 2026
Market Snapshot
August 20, 2026 — 10:34 BRTLatest News
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Rio de Janeiro Nightlife Tonight — August 19, 2026
Rio nightlife tonight: Rio Scenarium's gafieira ball, Pedro Alvorada at Carioca da Gema, bossa nova at Bip Bip...
What Is Free in Quito This Week, Balloons Included
Free things to do in Quito from 20 to 23 August: free balloons in three city squares, a...
Free Street Art Takes Over Belo Horizonte Until August 30
CURA 2026 Belo Horizonte runs to August 30. Free murals by Ailton Krenak and Mônica Nador, plus free...
Belo Horizonte’s Cheese Bread Circuit Runs Free Until Sunday
The Belo Horizonte cheese bread circuit runs until Sunday 23 August, and most of it is free. Here...
Buying Property in Mexico as a US Retiree: How Not to Get Scammed
Buying property in Mexico means a bank trust near the coast and a notario who is not your...
Why Spending US Dollars in Costa Rica Is Harder Than It Looks
Spending US dollars in Costa Rica is possible almost everywhere, and it quietly costs you money. The colon...
Seven Costa Rica National Parks and What Each One Costs
Costa Rica national parks now sell most tickets online only, with timed entry and daily caps. Here are...
United Adds a Nonstop Dulles to Cartagena Flight in December
The new Dulles to Cartagena flight starts 17 December, four times a week, year-round. It is the first...
A Peruvian Student Built a Free ‘Tinder for Scholarships’ — 15,000 Have Used It
Becas para Migajear is a free Tinder for scholarships built by a Lima student. You swipe through funding...
Monterrey’s Free Book Fair Returns in October With a Nobel Winner
FIL Monterrey 2026 runs 10-18 October at Cintermex with free entry, a Nobel laureate, Leonardo Padura and a...
Terapia Play Havana’s Nave Oficio de Isla on Saturday
The duo Terapia perform at Nave Oficio de Isla in Old Havana on Saturday 22 August at 4pm....
Tampico Will Host a Free International Jazz Festival in October
The Tampico jazz festival returns for a second edition from 21 to 25 October, free to attend. One...
Nigeria Approved a US$45 Million Rail Link to Its Lagos Ports. Almost Nobody Noticed
Nigeria ports and rail links are the missing piece around the Dangote refinery. A US$45.3 million line to four Lagos ports was approved last year.
Market Snapshot
August 20, 2026 — 10:34 BRTLatest News
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Ethiopia Birr Hits Record Low as Central Bank Sells US$500 Million in One Day
The Ethiopia birr fell to a record low near 162 per dollar, and the central bank called a...
Kenya’s KCB Opens a Five-Year Green Bond Programme in October
The KCB sustainability bond programme is worth up to KSh300 billion over five years, with a first tranche...
Nigeria Shuts an Insurer That Could Not Raise Enough Capital
NAICOM revoked the Universal Insurance licence after the company missed Nigeria's new minimum capital requirement. A liquidator was...
Ecobank Shrinks Its Board and Drops the Term Limit for Directors
The Ecobank ETI board falls from 15 seats to 12, and the nine-year cap on non-executive directors is...
Payment Failures at Ghana’s Ports Are Driving Up Import Costs
Ghana port payment failures are stranding containers and adding demurrage charges. Importers say the state platform and its...
Liberia Will Take 1,200 Deportees from the US, Starting Today
Liberia agreed to accept up to 1,200 foreign deportees from the United States. The first group of 20...
Museveni Says Uganda Is Middle-Income, the World Bank Says Not Yet
Uganda middle-income status is disputed. The World Bank's July 2026 classification still lists Uganda as low income, about...
A Nigerian Startup Lets You Cash Out Crypto Inside WhatsApp
MYPADI AI has built a WhatsApp crypto off-ramp for Nigeria, turning stablecoins into naira inside a chat. Nigeria...
Africa’s Nuclear Plans Lack the People to Run Them, Ghana Warns
A nuclear workforce shortage threatens Africa's reactor plans, Ghana's atomic agency says. Building a plant takes a decade;...
Ghana’s Cedi Rallied 7% in a Week. Street Rates Barely Moved
The Ghana cedi gained about 7 percent against the dollar in a week on the interbank market. The...
Only a Fifth of Absa Kenya Shareholders Took the US$239m Offer
Absa Bank Kenya minority holders took up barely a fifth of a US$239 million tender offer. The parent...
US Tariffs Cut South African Car Exports by 83% in One Year
South African vehicle exports to the US fell 83 percent after a 25 percent tariff landed. AGOA duty-free...
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