Santander Chile goes back to international markets and successfully issues CHF 150 million ($167 million) Senior Notes due in 2027, with a spread of 62 basis points above the Mid-Swap, which is equivalent to a coupon of 0.33%. The transaction was carried out with the advisory of Credit Suisse AG and Commerzbank AG. This signifies a return of the Bank to the international public debt market since January 2020 and is the first operation of Santander Chile in Switzerland since August 2019.
Category: Macroeconomy/Finance
Information regarding Chile’s finance sector and the country’s macroeconomy.
World Bank increases growth projections for Chile to 6.1%
The World Bank raised its growth projections for Chile to 6.1% in its "World Economic Outlook" report for June 2021. The reason for the increase is that vaccines continue to be delivered at a robust pace and private consumption is boosted by the pension withdrawals allowed during the pandemic.
Chile extends economic aid to families to September
President Piñera approved a law to give families the economic aid to alleviate the impact of the pandemic until September. This will reach 100% of those registered in the Social Registry of Households (RSH) and will benefit 15.1 million people. A one-person household will be paid $177,000, a 3-person household will receive $400,000 and a 4-person household will get $500,000. This is from June to August. In September, beneficiaries will receive 50% of the amount.
Chile’s GDP grew 0.3 % in 2021 first quarter
Chile's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 0.3 % in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year, in the middle of the second wave of the pandemic that pushed the health system to the limit and forced to confine a large part of the country, according to the Central Bank.
The pension system has disbursed $48 mn to pay resources in the three withdrawals of funds
A total of $48,021 million had mobilized the Chilean pension system until May 14, to pay members and beneficiaries their resources in the three retirement savings processes. Accounting for all 3 withdrawals, the pension fund managers (AFPs) had carried out 23,506,943 payment operations up to the aforementioned date. For the first withdrawal, 10,656,408 affiliates and beneficiaries received an average amount of $1,416,934. For the second withdrawal, 8,048,294 people have received their payments, with an average amount of $1,471,639. For the third withdrawal, the average amount paid per person is $1,475,550.
Chile exported more than 20,000 tons of organic blueberry
According to iQonsulting's 2020-2021 Blueberry Yearbook, Chile exported more than 20,000 tons of organic blueberries in the previous campaign, a record volume that was 35% higher than the volume it exported in the 2019-2020 campaign. This growth is associated with the entry into force of the System Approach in the Ñuble and Biobio regions, which would be responsible for the large increase in organic exports as its exports increased by 148% going from 2,900 tons in the 2019/20 campaign to 7,182 tons in the 2020/21 campaign.
Third 10% pension withdrawal already adds up to $3.684 bn
The third withdrawal of 10% of pension funds has already registered 5.2 million applications and payments of $3.684 billion as of last Friday, according to data from the Superintendency of Pensions. Of the total number of applications, 1.9% have been rejected.
SII received more than 384 thousand solidarity loan applications amounting to $230.63 mn
The Internal Revenue Service (SII) received as at 18.00 hours on Saturday over 384,000 applications for the Solidarity Loan amounting to Ch$160.38 billion ($230.63 million). The loan has a real rate of 0 and can be applied for up to 3 times, once a month (continuous or discontinuous) until October 2021.
Chile recorded a $2.04 billion trade surplus in April
Chile recorded a $2.04 billion trade surplus in April. The positive balance is mainly due to copper sales, which on Friday surpassed the historic barrier of $4.07 per pound. Exports in April reached $8.11 billion, while imports came in at $6.07 billion. Copper sales in April reached $4.54 billion.
Chile becomes China’s top table grapes supplier with an import value of $260 mn
Chile was China's top supplier of imported table grapes with a total import value in excess of $260 million, according to the UN Comtrade database. In terms of volume, imports of Chilean table grapes to China during 2020 were 68% higher than for the number two country, Australia. In fact, Chilean grapes accounted for approximately 44% of China’s total fresh grape imports in 2020. According to the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX), Chile exported 111,487 tons of table grapes to China during the 2019/20 season.
