GlobalSource Partners | Country Insights

Executive Summary Key elements in President Enrique Peña’s fiscal reform proposals have run up against considerable resistance in the two weeks since they were unveiled. Powerful business leaders and associations were quick to criticize the initiative for not going as far as they had expected, es...

Weather and Economy Heat Up

CHINA · Report · 24 Sep 2013

Executive Summary China was hit by heat waves in July and August – with the weather in August even hotter, in many regions, than in July. Electricity generation rose 13.4% y/y over the month, its fastest climb in years. The economy seems to be heating up too. Industrial output growth also r...

Political Insights: Week of September 23

BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 23 Sep 2013

The week ahead: Finance Minister Guido Mantega discusses investment opportunities in Brazil with investors in New York.The government is concerned about the attractiveness of the concessions programmed for the coming months. In the US, Dilma speaks at the UN General Assembly.This is a decisive we...

Interpreting the Monetary Policy Announcement

INDIA · Report · 23 Sep 2013

In his maiden monetary policy announcement RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan tried to unveil a complicated mix of easing and tightening. He raised the policy “repo” rate to bring down inflationary expectations, while at the same time reducing the MSF rate, the effective rate at which banks borrow, whic...

Help From the Fed for the Brazilian Central Bank

BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 23 Sep 2013

The markets were taken by surprise with the Fed’s decision to maintain the pace of asset purchases. US Treasury rates immediately fell, with the 10-year bond closing last week at 2.73% after having reached 2.99% before the meeting. Internationally, there was an immediate reversal in the behavior ...

Weekly Tracker: September 22-28

TURKEY · Report · 22 Sep 2013

Executive Summary If the Turkish press is to be believed, the Reform Package to be unveiled on the final day of September will contain concrete human rights reforms. The Kurdish actors already denounced the reform efforts. They now want PKK leader Ocalan to be bestowed with the status of official...

RBI Statement Failed to Reduce Uncertainty

INDIA · Report · 20 Sep 2013

Today RBI said they will: reduce the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate by 75 basis points from 10.25 per cent to 9.5 per cent with immediate effect;reduce the minimum daily maintenance of the cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 99 per cent of the requirement to 95 per cent effective from the fortni...

Lots of Talk, Little Action

VENEZUELA · Report · 20 Sep 2013

Executive Summary The government sorely needs to adopt credible and sustainable policies to stabilize exchange rates, prices, and expectations. An immediate priority is to patch up the exchange rate regime. The administration is planning to set up a new foreign exchange mechanism to run alongside...

PSB Exits The Allied Base

BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 19 Sep 2013

The Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) announced on September 18 that it is delivering all posts it occupied in the Dilma Rousseff (PT) administration. The PSB occupied the Ministry of National Integration, the Secretariat of Ports, three directorships in the Development Company for the São Francisc...

The Benchmark Interest Rate Remains Unchanged

SOUTH AFRICA · Report · 19 Sep 2013

Today’s decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) continues a period of no change in the benchmark interest rate. Cognizant of the upside nature of inflationary risks and the underlying hesitant economic recovery in South Africa, the MPC kept the rep...

Regressive Pitfalls of Tax Reform

MEXICO · Report · 18 Sep 2013

Executive Summary The government of President Enrique Peña Nieto unveiled its budget proposals for 2014 along with closely related pieces of legislation that imply major changes to tax and fiscal policy while greatly expanding social security coverage. The stated purpose of such a reform would be...

Clearing Another Hurdle

MEXICO · Report · 18 Sep 2013

Executive Summary In the run-up to the official Mexican Independence Day Celebrations, which traditionally center on Mexico City’s main square, the government reached an agreement with the main organization of teachers to dismantle the protest encampment they have maintained for many weeks in the...

An uneventful MPC, as expected

TURKEY · Report · 17 Sep 2013

As expected, the MPC kept all rates unchanged today (see graph), while its assessment of the economy (e.g., mild recovery in domestic demand, a contained CAD thanks to current policy framework) was also broadly unchanged. The Bank chose not to alter the F/X ratios (that would help to transfer som...

Political Insights

BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 16 Sep 2013

An intense week of political negotiation ahead: The National Congress analyzes President Dilma’s vetoes, with the government’s effort focused on sustaining the veto on the end of the 10% fine on the FGTS in case of unfair dismissal. The STF decides on the possibility of a new trial for 12 of the ...

Thanks, Mr. President

PERU · Report · 16 Sep 2013

Executive Summary President Ollanta Humala’s announcement that “the crisis has arrived” depressed confidence in Peru—according to a recent poll, 61% of Peruvians think the country is already in economic crisis. So the government’s main near-term task is to avoid hitting the brakes too hard. Unfor...