Santiago Peña helped secure Paraguay’s relentless upward trajectory while minister of finance – now he has switched to the private sector and has the perfect perspective to judge the outlook for the Mercosur countries.

The country’s biggest banks have kept profits up by keeping banking simple and benefiting from enviable net interest margins. But are they too conservative for their own – and the economy’s – good?

Paraguay’s bright young things are trying to transform the country’s economy. A dogged commitment to macroeconomic stability means that a commodity slump and recessions in its two big neighbours have not derailed growth.