NEWS FLASH

UPCOMING WEBINAR - LATIN AMERICA IN 2025: HOW WORRIED SHOULD WE BE?...

The PL, PP, and Republicanos announced support for Rogério Marinho as Senate president, today is the first in-person meeting of the Governors Forum 2023, and the Petrobras Board will vote on Jean Paul Prates’s appointment as president of the company
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 26 Jan 2023

With the support of the three parties, Senator Rogério Marinho (PL) has guaranteed at least 23 votes. However, he still does not have enough votes to defeat Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG). Currently, Pacheco may have 40 to 48 votes – he needs over 41 votes to be re-elected in the first round. The Gover...

New US ambassador in Moscow
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 26 Jan 2023

On January 25 Lynne Tracy arrived in Moscow. Her time as ambassador will not be easy as relations are their worst since the Cold War. She is the first woman to hold the post. Ms. Tracy was previously the deputy chief of mission in Moscow 2014-17. Ambassador Tracy will present her credentials soon...

DR Ministry of Finance announces repurchase of DOP bonds that mature in 2023
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · In Brief · 25 Jan 2023

Yesterday, the Ministry of Finance announced the decision to repurchase DOP bonds that mature in 2023. Payment will be made in cash. The amount of the main bond to be acquired is DOP40 b and has a coupon of 8.9% According to the announcement, disclosed through Global Bondholder Services Corporati...

Kazakhstan’s 2022 republican budget deficit smaller than planned
KAZAKHSTAN · In Brief · 25 Jan 2023

The Ministry of Finance reported that in 2022 the republican budget posted a smaller deficit than was stipulated by the amended target. This deficit accounted for KZT2.4 trln ($5.2 bn) instead of KZT3.0 trln ($6.5 bn). Own tax revenues of the republican budget exceeded the amended plan by 2.1% an...

Decreasing energy import prices should break the negative trend of the BOP this year
HUNGARY · Forecast · 25 Jan 2023

This quarterly update of our macro forecast partially follows the same basic trend as the one presented in our previous forecast report, released in October. However, it includes some important changes regarding key assumptions, real and nominal growth, inflation and the forint’s exchange rate, a...

PT President Gleisi Hofmann criticized Petrobras’s decision to increase fuel prices, legislators are mobilizing against the changes to CARF, and Lula’s government leader in Congress spoke against the installation of a CPI on the January 8 attacks
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 25 Jan 2023

Deputy Gleisi Hofmann highlighted the fact that Petrobras’s decision took place before Senator Jean Paul Prates took charge of the company and was due to pressure from shareholders. This is the first price increase in the Lula government. The government has noticed negotiations from legislators a...

Germany announces it will give tanks to Ukraine
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 25 Jan 2023

On January 25 the move was declared by the German government. For weeks Ukraine and NATO beseeched Germany to allow other countries to donate Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Germany has allowed this but gone even further by giving 14 Leopard 2 tanks belonging to the German Army. Germany has 350 opera...

MNB's rate decision followed analysts' expectation, kind of
HUNGARY · In Brief · 24 Jan 2023

The Monetary Council left all of its interest rates unchanged today, just as analysts expected. But this does not mean there were no policy changes at all. Most importantly, the mandatory reserve ratio for banks will be raised further, from 5% to 10% from April. As a reminder, the Bank raised the...

Several Ukrainian ministers resign over corruption allegations
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 24 Jan 2023

On January 24, 5 regional governors and 4 deputy ministers resigned. Ukraine has been dogged by corruption since independence. Western allies have allocated billions of USD in aid and want to be sure that it will not be stolen. They have demanded progress on anti-corruption in return for aid. The...

Negotiations regarding the election in Congress take over Brasilia, Minister Haddad and President Lula are still in Argentina, and the investigations into the January 8 attacks continue
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 24 Jan 2023

Despite the likelihood that Arthur Lira (PP-AL) and Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) will be re-elected as presidents of the House and Senate, respectively, negotiations regarding the election are the priority in Brasília. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad is accompanying President Lula on a trip to Argen...

Russian Foreign Minister visits South Africa
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 24 Jan 2023

On January 23 Sergei Lavrov met his South African counterpart for talks. South Africa is neutral in the Ukraine War. The country is quite pro-Russian because of Soviet help to the anti-apartheid movement. South Africa is the most powerful country in sub-Saharan Africa. Russia is keen to show that...

Big battles ahead, as economy hangs on foreign support
UKRAINE · Report · 23 Jan 2023

Since mid-December, most media attention has been focused on two small towns in Eastern Ukraine — Bakhmut and Soledar. The Russians have been intensively burning through their manpower in frontal attacks on both. By mid-January, Soledar had been captured by Russian forces, but in light of Russia’...

Flight Plan 2.0 and other weekly topics
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 23 Jan 2023

Lula and Fernando Haddad leave for Buenos Aires, where they will participate in the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. They will then head to Montevideo, for a meeting with the president of Uruguay. Arthur Lira (PP-AL) meets with caucuses ahead of his re-election cand...

The Mistake of Raising the Inflation Target
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 23 Jan 2023

The necessary condition to achieve the goals of accelerating economic growth and improving the distribution of income is to enact micro and macroeconomic reforms. But this is only one condition, which depends on Congress. The other, which depends exclusively on the Central Bank and the fiscal aut...

Politics: Opposition on the right path to compete in 2024 but with major challenges ahead
MEXICO · Report · 23 Jan 2023

The opposition has taken a major step toward mounting a serious challenge in the upcoming elections as the PAN, PRI and PRD recommitted themselves in recent days to competing as a coalition. However, a number of crucial matters remain under discussion. During the Va por México news conference at ...