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How the Budget Numbers Stack Up
MEXICO · Report · 01 Oct 2013

Executive SummaryA series of legally binding budget deadlines, legislative calendars and partisan political calculations pose the possibility of a congressional train wreck if the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto and the leaders of the main political parties fail to find common grou...

2014 Budget Law Ready to be Sent to Congress
CHILE · In Brief · 30 Sep 2013

President Sebastián Piñera announced yesterday the main fiscal figures of the 2014 budget proposal. Public spending budget is expected to increase 3.9 percent in real terms in 2014 while structural fiscal deficit is expected to fall to 1% of GDP in 2014. The 2014 Budget Law will be sent today to ...

The Reform Package: Appears Decidedly Half-Empty
TURKEY · In Brief · 30 Sep 2013

I defer a Market Brief on Erdogan’s Reform Package till Tuesday, because of what I stated in the Weekly Tracker:“The content of the reform initiative is not the most relevant issue about its impact on Turkey’s fractious political landscape. It is the reception by Kurds and Alevites that count her...

Political Insights: Week of September 30
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 30 Sep 2013

A week of intense political negotiation, as Saturday is the deadline for the creation and membership of political parties for the 2014 elections. On Tuesday, the TSE examines the creation of Rede, Marina Silva’s party. Main Topics on the October Agenda Politically, the beginning of the month of O...

EL SALVADOR: Stiff Challenges
CENTRAL AMERICA · Report · 29 Sep 2013

Executive SummaryEl Salvador’s next president won’t have an easy time of it. His major challenge, after taking office next June, will be to restoke growth, dragging along at about 2% since 2009, when real GDP declined by 3.1%. Our 2013-14 forecast points to more of the same. A key element will be...

Weekly Tracker: Sep 29-Oct 5
TURKEY · Report · 29 Sep 2013

Executive SummaryMonday is a landmark day in Turkish politics, when PM Erdogan unveils the Reform Package. Contents will not satisfy either the Kurdish or the Alevite leadership, but the masses may be more sympathetic. A strange brawl during a soccer derby appears related to Gezi Parki, proving o...

2014 Election
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 27 Sep 2013

Dilma Recovers Popularity and Improves her Position Ahead of the Upcoming Succession Race The most recent CNI/Ibope on evaluations of the Dilma Rousseff administration revealed that her approval (good/very good) increased six percentage points (from 31% to 37%) from July to September.The “regular...

Fiscal Expansion Constraining Monetary Policy
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 27 Sep 2013

Executive Summary The objective of this work is to discuss the empirical evidence on the interference of fiscal policy in monetary policy. We compare various fiscal policy measures and find that the one that performs the best by far (including in comparison with the structural primary surplus, pr...

Q3 Woes Continue in Spite of Q2 Surprises
COLOMBIA · Report · 27 Sep 2013

Executive Summary Surprisingly strong Q2 GDP results were driven by fast-expanding agriculture, construction and social services, and general economic activity grew by a healthy 4.2%. The big shock was in manufacturing, which expanded by 1.2%, though leading indicators had suggested a negative re...

Koc Tender Officially Cancelled
TURKEY · In Brief · 26 Sep 2013

In the war between AKP and its alleged secularist conspiratorial nemesis Koc Group, the first blood was officially drawn today. In a Defense Procurement Committee meeting chaired by PM Erdogan, the US$1.5 billion MilGem tender (for the construction of four Navy vessels) have been canceled on acco...

Critical Choices
UKRAINE · Forecast · 25 Sep 2013

Executive Summary November will be a critical month for Ukraine. The results of the Eastern Partnership Summit will address many lingering questions. We will soon know how serious the authorities are about releasing jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko; how likely Ukraine is to cooperate...

Going Into Extractivism to Get Out From Extractivism
ECUADOR · Report · 25 Sep 2013

Executive SummaryEcuadorians do not understand why President Correa is enduring the evident political cost of pushing for Legislative approval to exploit the ITT camps. The $2.5b per year in revenues for around 20 years, seem insufficient to achieve the economic transformation the government link...

Import Uptick
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 25 Sep 2013

The statistics bureau reported today an 8.7% increase in July imports due largely to a 30% gain in imports of electronics materials.  This supports feedback we received earlier from local electronics makers who reported seeing improving export sales.  July total import growth is the highest so fa...

Is it Really Over?
INDONESIA · Report · 24 Sep 2013

Executive Summary Calming good news in the media seems to have quelled late-August/mid-September financial jitters in the Indonesian financial market; at least, the long lines in front of the exchange houses have dwindled. We now see light at the end of the tunnel. The first bit of good new...

Holes in Pemex Fiscal Reform
MEXICO · Report · 24 Sep 2013

Executive Summary In recent days several of the tax ideas contained in the fiscal reform proposals made by President Enrique Peña Nieto have become the focus of considerable discussion and criticism. These include the application of the VAT tax to school tuitions, an idea the Chamber of Deputies ...