GlobalSource Partners | Country Insights

It is uncertain whether Bolsonaro will submit another impeachment request against Minister Barroso. Minister Lewandowski voted against the constitutionality of the law that provides for the autonomy of the Central Bank, and Minister Barroso voted in favor. Minister Nunes Marques will be the first...

Russian industrial growth seemingly losing steam

RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 26 Aug 2021

Rosstat reported that the industrial output was up by 4.4% y-o-y in 7M21, while the same 4.4% y-o-y growth was reported for 1H21 a month ago. In July alone, the industrial output was up by 6.8% y-o-y, while in May and June, this growth was double-digit. Strong base effects affected y-o-y statisti...

Delta has a rendezvous with Dr. No in Jamaica

JAMAICA / BAHAMAS · Report · 25 Aug 2021 · 2 responses

Jamaica probably has the world’s tightest fiscal policy on an effort basis. As Delta drives cases past previous COVID peaks, and Tropical Storm Grace grazes Jamaica, the question is whether this be sustained even by the country's very determined Finance Minister, Dr. Nigel Clarke.

Augusto Aras’s appointment was confirmed in the Senate yesterday, the STF will adjudicate the ADI against the law that provides for autonomy of the Central Bank, and Lira plans to vote on the income tax bill next week

BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 25 Aug 2021

Senators asked Davi Alcolumbre to schedule the confirmation hearing for André Mendonça’s appointment to the STF but he did not respond. Only two votes have already been cast in the ADI in the STF. Minister Lewandowski voted in favor of the ADI and Minister Barroso voted against it. The government...

Russia gives USD 7 billion to pensioners and military personnel

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 24 Aug 2021

On August 24 Putin told deputies of the United Russia party that money should be paid to senior citizens and those serving in the armed forces. USD 135 will be paid to each pensioner and USD 200 to each person in the military regardless of rank. In September 2021 parliamentary elections will take...

The MNB appeared to really mean it today

HUNGARY · In Brief · 24 Aug 2021

The MNB made two important decisions at their August rate-setting meeting today, both in the direction of significant tightening:- They raised the base rate by another 30 bps to 1.5%, the same way as they also raised the interest rate corridor by the same amount, to 0.55-2.45%, and as they will r...

Delta variant interrupts economic performance

CHINA · Report · 24 Aug 2021

COVID’s Delta variant and extreme weather have been hitting the economy for the past month, but their effects will be temporary. Industrial output was up 6.4% y/y in July, and up 11.5% from July 2019, with an annualized growth rate of 5.6% y/y, down 1 ppts from Q2 2021. Investment was up 10.3% y/...

Governors have requested to meet with the leaders of the three branches of government, Augusto Aras’s confirmation hearings begin in the Senate’s CCJ, and Mendonça’s appointment to the STF faces resistance

BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 24 Aug 2021

The governors of 24 states spoke out against the approval of the income tax bill. Arthur Lira would like to vote on the text this week but an agreement has not yet been reached. Pacheco says the bill is not well received in the Senate. The court-ordered payments proposal does not yet have a rappo...

Economics: Social deprivation climbs as income and healthcare access fall in latest survey

MEXICO · Report · 24 Aug 2021

The latest installment of the bi-annual National Household Income and Expenditure Survey (Enigh) based on a survey from the autumn of 2020, and the accompanying multidimensional reading of poverty from Coneval are especially significant as they depict not only the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic...

It’s encouraging

VENEZUELA · Report · 24 Aug 2021

It’s encouraging that, according to the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Venezuelan government and the opposition Unity Platform on August 13 in Mexico City, the goal of the Norway-mediated talks will be to set down new rules of the political game consistent with the Constitution. Th...

Politics: Media and freedom of the press under assault from politicians and cartels

MEXICO · Report · 23 Aug 2021

When a leader of one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico posted in recent days a video threatening the main anchor of a national news service with death if she did not suspend her reporting on the group’s activities, it was just the latest terrifying episode in an extended history of mou...

Taliban victory leads to mixed feelings in Central Asia

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 23 Aug 2021

Russia has kept its embassy in Kabul open and flattered the Taliban effusively. There is schadenfreude in Moscow about the bedlam in Kabul. One politician bragged that soon pro-US Ukrainians will see the Americans abandon them.Moscow has striven to develop a working relationship with the Taliban....

Lessons learned from the Income Tax Reform and other weekly topics

BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 23 Aug 2021

Bolsonaro may file a request for impeachment against Minister of the STF Luís Roberto Barroso. The Senate is analyzing Augusto Aras's appointment as Prosecutor General of Brazil (PGR). Deputy Arthur Maia (DEM-BA) may read his report on the Administrative Reform proposal. In the STF, two matters m...

The “Floating Fiscal Anchor” and Its Consequences

BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 23 Aug 2021

In the past several weeks, the risk premiums have grown significantly, accompanied by a marked increase of the entire structure of the yield curve and renewed weakening of the Real. The main factor underpinning this reaction is the realization that the spending cap has become a “floating fiscal a...

Turkey Covid Watch - August 23, 2021

TURKEY · Report · 23 Aug 2021

Cases declined over the past few weeks, albeit at a slow pace. The Ministry of Health announced that 90% of cases are currently of the Delta variant.