Overview
- Peru’s slow ballot processing by ONPE has left the second‑round challenger to Keiko Fujimori unclear, and markets reacted with stock drops and a stronger dollar as micro and small firms pulled back on credit and inventories.
- Microfinance leaders in Peru say they are vetting borrowers more tightly and shortening loan terms, with one executive projecting a 5% to 10% fall in microcredit originations in the second quarter and reports of tourism cancellations in Cusco.
- Mexico’s federal government announced an agreement with banks and fuel‑voucher firms to cut card and voucher interchange fees on fuel purchases from May 1 to October 31 to limit pump prices for gasoline and diesel.
- Independent gas station owners in Mexico say they were not consulted and lack operating rules, warning of possible losses of up to 25 centavos per liter on diesel and potential shift cuts because the cut applies to issuer fees but not many terminal providers’ charges.
- In Argentina, prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita is probing Cabinet chief Manuel Adorni for alleged illicit enrichment, with new details of cash spending on foreign trips, as four bicameral commission meetings to fill key watchdog posts were scrapped Tuesday and Adorni delivers his management report to Deputies on Wednesday.