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UPCOMING WEBINAR - TURKEY: FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE OR BUSINESS AS USUAL?...

Impeachment proceedings: main points in the rapporteur’s vote
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 17 Dec 2015

Luiz Edson Fachin, Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), voted on December 16 against the possibility of the Senate’s refusing the installation of the impeachment process approved by the House of Representatives. After Fachin read his vote on the procedure of the impeachment proceedings...

Economics: Pemex’s Ongoing Downward Spiral
MEXICO · Report · 17 Dec 2015

Executive Summary Pemex’s release of its financial results for the third quarter of 2015 prompted Moody’s to lower its global rating on the company from A3 to Baa1, a level reflecting low-to-moderate risk, which the agency said resulted from expectations that “Pemex’s credit metrics will deterior...

​PKK and ISIS will raise risk premiums in 2016
TURKEY · In Brief · 17 Dec 2015

PKK and ISIS will raise risk premiums in 2016 While Turkish markets greeted Fed’s “dovish tightening” move with a moderate rally, I’m writing this post to remind our readers of the daunting challenges that face Turkey in the political arena, on top of a relatively large current account deficit an...

Thinking about fiscal risk
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 17 Dec 2015

Congress has passed a bill granting a P2,000 across-the-board increase in the minimum monthly pension received by members of the Social Security System (SSS). The proposal has been sent to Malacanang and is now reportedly awaiting the President's signature. We gathered from concerned officials th...

South Africa and Three Finance Ministers in Five Days
SOUTH AFRICA · In Brief · 16 Dec 2015

The past week will be remembered in the annals of South Africa's history for the most bizarre, and idiotic, presidential governance decisions in modern times. President Zuma sacked his respected and experienced Finance Minister, Nhlanhla Nene, replaced him with an unknown political entity, David ...

Politics: Uptick, but Approval Numbers Low
MEXICO · Report · 16 Dec 2015

This week we are presenting the results of GEA’s fourth edition in 2015 of its study, Mexico: Politics, Society and Change, Political Scenarios, with a focus on public perceptions of how the current government has performed, and the electoral preferences of voters with an eye toward the 2018 pres...

The third gold swap of 2015 was done in October
VENEZUELA · In Brief · 15 Dec 2015 · 1 response

We infer the third gold swap of this year was done by BCV in October, according to the Bank’s balance sheet published today. Gold holdings fell by $393 million in October. The decline in the 9-month moving average price used by the Bank to value its monetary gold holdings explains $100 million. T...

CNI/Ibope: Rousseff’s government reaches 70% disapproval rate
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 15 Dec 2015

CNI/Ibope research released today indicates that Dilma Rousseff’s government continues to be deeply unpopular. Although the variation displayed by the poll is within the margin of error (two percentage points), her positive rating has dropped by one point in comparison to September. Her negative ...

MNB took no measure today, softened macro forecast only by little
HUNGARY · In Brief · 15 Dec 2015

Today's Monetary Council meeting brought about to no measure at all, whether conventional or unconventional. The base rate remains at 1.35%. In its new inflation report, the Bank left its average inflation forecast for this year unchanged at 0% and revised the 2016 forecast moderately down, to 1....

Car Wash Operation
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 15 Dec 2015

The Federal Police (FP) carried out search and seizure warrants at the residences of the President of the House, Eduardo Cunha, the Minister of Science and Technology, Celso Pansera, and the Minister of Tourism, Henrique Eduardo Alves. Senator Edison Lobão (PMDB-MA) and House Member Aníbal Gomes ...

A balance sheet recession?
INDIA · Report · 15 Dec 2015

A remarkable collapse in nominal GDP growth has been taking place. There are concerns about the GDP deflator that has been used, which is possibly overstating real GDP growth. Low nominal GDP growth, coupled with high interest rates, is resulting in difficult conditions for the debt dynamics of t...

Business cycle conditions
INDIA · Report · 14 Dec 2015

Conditions in the economy remain difficult. The net sales growth of firms, expressed in real terms, is quite slow. The credit stress of firms is worsening, as interest payments are growing faster than operating profit. We are increasingly morphing from a conventional recession into a balance shee...

Growing Inflation and Imminent Elevation of the SELIC Rate
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 14 Dec 2015

Despite the strong contraction of economic activity, inflation shows no signs of waning. The growth of the IPCA for November was higher than all expectations, in particular the acceleration of the core rate and diffusion index. So even in face of a recession that already ranks as one of the longe...

Budget 2016: all about payroll tax
UKRAINE · In Brief · 14 Dec 2015

On December 11 the Cabinet finally submitted draft budget to the parliament. The spending plan is based on new taxation rules. In particular, payroll tax will be reduced to 20% from near 37%. Simplified tax system will be substantially restricted. Enterprise profit tax rate remains flat at 18% an...

Weekly Tracker: December 13-19
TURKEY · Report · 13 Dec 2015

The government’s 2016 Action Plan promises a lot of pleasant improvements for socio-political arena, but very little concrete steps for structural reforms. Additionally, it is incredibly populist in terms of the envisaged spending measures. Turkey’s troubles with Russia continue and spread to ...