NEWS FLASH

WEBINAR - LATIN AMERICA: FISCAL PRESSURES AND POLITICAL SHIFTS...

Week of July 10
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 10 Jul 2017

The Constitution and Justice Committee of the Lower House may vote on the report by Rep. Sérgio Zveiter on the accusation against Michel Temer; the government is working to conclude analysis by the Lower House in the next few days. On Wednesday, July 12, Congress will try to vote on the Budget Gu...

What has changed?
VENEZUELA · Report · 10 Jul 2017 · 2 responses

Moving Leopoldo López from a military prison to house arrest was a unilateral move by Maduro’s government seeking to reinforce its National Constituent Assembly (ANC) initiative. The ANC hasn’t gained legitimacy and provides common ground to the opposition and “original” chavismo in opposing the ...

An Intense Monetary Easing Will Continue
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 10 Jul 2017

With the start of the political crisis, it soon became apparent that from the standpoint of inflation two forces acting in opposite directions had been generated. By retarding resumption of growth, the crisis would accentuate disinflation, but by raising the risks and thus discouraging the capita...

Political and Economic Update
TURKEY · Report · 09 Jul 2017

The politics section of the Weekly has been penned before Kilicdaroglu’s justice rally in Istanbul, which is expected to proceed without a major security incident. The first section assesses whether his 450 km march from Ankara to Istanbul could alter the political equilibrium in the country. The...

Monthly inflation exceeds 20 percent
VENEZUELA · Report · 07 Jul 2017

We revised down our June month-on-month inflation rate estimate to 23 percent (from 26 percent in our previous report) reflecting the decline in prices of a group of agricultural foods. We forecast a slight acceleration to 24 percent in July. Accumulated inflation for the first seven months of th...

Economic Recovery was Indeed Derailed and Confidence Remains Low
SOUTH AFRICA · Forecast · 07 Jul 2017

• South Africa’s Growth: Economic Growth was more than disappointing during the first quarter of 2017 as GDP contracted by 0.7% following a prior contraction of 0.3% in the final quarter of 2016. This means South Africa entered into a technical recession during the first quarter of 2017, the firs...

More Notes on the 2017 ANC Policy Conference: Bereft of Content, Yet Raising Uncertainties
SOUTH AFRICA · Report · 07 Jul 2017 · 1 response

This report elaborates on and explains points in the Note on this topic we published yesterday, July 6. The much-awaited African National Congress (ANC) mid-term Policy Conference just wrapped up, and as we mentioned in our Note published yesterday, as anticipated, the Conference was far more ...

Midterm Election Race Heating Up
ARGENTINA · Report · 07 Jul 2017

With the nominations of the pre-candidates for the August primaries, the run-up to the October 22nd midterm elections has formally begun. While the government will fight to reinforce its “first minority” in both the House and the Senate, both politics and the market will be watching, in particula...

The 2017 ANC Policy Conference: Bereft of Content, Yet Raising Uncertainties
SOUTH AFRICA · In Brief · 06 Jul 2017

The much-awaited ANC mid-term Policy Conference was wrapped up yesterday. As anticipated, the Conference was far more about the critical succession planning than any serious focus on any ideological or socio-economic policy issues. The observers had long argued that no meaningful policy debate co...

Signs of Economic Slowing Despite Strong GDP. Signs of a Competitive Presidential Race in 2018
MEXICO · Report · 06 Jul 2017

Aggregate supply and demand for the first quarter grew much better than expected (4.2%) as the awaited slowing of private consumption failed to materialize, and a boost in petroleum exports allowed the trade balance to contribute half of a percentage point to overall growth. The leading index of ...

June's big cash deficit was caused by an upswing of payments on EU-sponsored development programs
HUNGARY · In Brief · 06 Jul 2017

This morning's report on an unusually big monthly cash deficit of the central government in June may have looked a bit scary at first glance. But looking into the details suggests it should not be highly consequential.The monthly cash deficit in June was HUF698bn, outstandingly big compared to a ...

Week of July 3
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 03 Jul 2017

The president of the Constitution and Justice chooses the rapporteur for the accusation against President Michel Temer. Although he has 10 sessions to present his defense, Temer is expected to do so this week. The Senate may vote on an urgency request for Labor Reform, but the vote on the bill it...

Growth Picks Up in Q1 Amid Political Uncertainty
PANAMA · Report · 03 Jul 2017

GDP grew 6.2% y/y in Q1 2017 compared to 4.6% in Q1 2016. The three drivers were: 1) double digit growth in Colon Free Zone (CFZ) re-exports; 2) an increase in Panama Canal transits due to last year’s expansion, as well as a surge in ports transshipments; 3) construction, driven by private and pu...

Effects of the Favorable External Impulse
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 03 Jul 2017

In the midst of a political crisis that increases risks and hampers growth recovery, Brazil is benefiting from two favorable movements of the international economy. The resumption of growth in Europe, Japan and the United States in an environment of abundant international liquidity has reduced...

A jump in BCV’s non-reserve assets
VENEZUELA · Report · 03 Jul 2017 · 1 response

BCV's balance sheet as of May 31, 2017, published on June 29, reports a month-on-month increase of Bs 25,091 billion (236 percent) in the non-reserve assets account called “Diverse Assets in Foreign Currency” (Activos Diversos en Divisas). This account is not part of BCV’s foreign reserves. We...