GlobalSource Partners | Country Insights

Economic news pointed largely in the same direction in September as it has for most of the year: downward. So much so that the threat of a recession continues to loom, although a chance remains that the Mexican economy can avert a technical one if it can skirt it before next year. The same can...

NEP: Some quick reactions

TURKEY · Report · 30 Sep 2019

Well, I am not sure about six, but there are at least two “impossible things” to take note of in today’s New Economy Program (NEP), presented by Minister Berat Albayrak.

The Labor market

BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 30 Sep 2019

In our weekly report of September 16th (“The Industry’s Poor Performance and Hope in Consumption”), we showed that industry will continue bearing the brunt of the global slowdown, and that recovery of domestic activity will be increasingly dependent on household consumption, which has been expand...

Politics: Education counter-reform has arrived

MEXICO · Report · 30 Sep 2019

Last week Congress approved an administration proposal to roll back the essential aspects of the 2013 reform that were designed to free the public education system of decades of corporatist political rule in which the teachers' union had come to exert control over most of the system. The core ele...

What’s going on in the Chinese balance of payments?

CHINA FINANCIAL · Report · 30 Sep 2019 · 5 responses

Special points to highlight in this issue: * For the first half of 2019 “Errors and omissions”, in the balance of payment data, are higher than they have ever been in China: USD 131 billion. This is equal to nearly two-thirds of the recorded trade surplus, and is nearly 50 percent higher than...

El SALVADOR: Improvement likely in 2020

CENTRAL AMERICA · Report · 30 Sep 2019

El Salvador has this year been suffering the combined effects of the political campaign that put President Nayib Bukele in office starting June 1, 2019, and from adverse international economic conditions, with worsening perspectives for 2020. Uncertainty and poor expectations for consumers and in...

Danylyuk has resigned

UKRAINE · In Brief · 30 Sep 2019

On Friday, Sept 27, Alex Danylyuk, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security Council wrote on his Facebook page that he confirms his resignation. Press-secretary of Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on her page that Danylyuk has submitted a request for resignation before President departed to the US. Toda...

Gulf weekly: No US-Iran talks but Abu Dhabi and Bahrain issue bonds

GULF COUNTRIES · Report · 29 Sep 2019

Tensions with Iran and its allies dominated the agenda once again. There was no discernible progress at the UN General Assembly, where the tone and posturing broadly supported our expectations of only a slow movement towards a new nuclear deal but little enthusiasm for escalating the conflict. Th...

Gazprom has purchased its major subcontractor

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 29 Sep 2019

The Russian natural gas supermajor Gazprom sealed the bargain on buying 100% of Stroygazmontach on September 26. Stroygazmontach is Gazprom's main subcontractor and is controlled by Arkady Rotenberg. The price is reported to be between USD 1.1 and 1.5 billion.Gazprom is thinking about buying anot...

Reality versus perception

TURKEY · Report · 29 Sep 2019 · 2 responses

The Political Analyst issues three serious warnings, which are bullet-pointed below to make sure his message gets across: • Signs of an impending Great Earthquake in Marmara Basin-Istanbul are proliferating. • President Erdogan may be serious in his threat to invade North East Syria very soon, ...

Russia delivers weapons to the Central African Republic

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 29 Sep 2019

On September 27 Russia announced it has delivered more weapons to the Central African Republic (CAR). Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov explained that the CAR Government needed the arms to fight terrorism. The weapons were provided gratis but Russia will be granted mining rights in recognition of th...

Russia asks NATO to stop nuclear buildup

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 27 Sep 2019

On September 25 Putin asked NATO to stop its deployment of missiles to Europe. Missiles of this type are forbidden pursuant to a US-Russian nuclear agreement but that agreement was annulled on August 2. That was the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). The United States withdrew from i...

Another interest rate cut

INDONESIA · Report · 27 Sep 2019

At its recent Monetary Policy Meeting in September 2019 the Indonesian Central Bank decided to slash the benchmark interest rate once again by 25 basis points, to 5.25%. This is the third interest rate cut in the past three consecutive months. The interest rate cut was driven by the softening of ...

Uncertainty over Russian inflation forecast

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 27 Sep 2019

On September 25 the Russian draft budget was published online. The President held meetings concerning the draft budget. The Ministry of Economic Development forecasts that inflation will be 3.6% by the end of 2019 and 3% by the end of 2020. However, the Bank of Russia predicts inflation will be b...

Regime makes one deal to avoid another

VENEZUELA · Report · 27 Sep 2019

The Maduro regime responded to the opposition’s proposal in Norway-mediated talks with weeks of silence and has now announced a separate “partial deal” with a set of minority parties in a “national dialogue for stability and peace”. The opposition’s proposal had aimed to create the conditions ...