Latin America Economics Update Argentine debt settlement increasingly unlikely before 2016 An improvement in Argentina’s foreign currency liquidity makes it much less likely that the government will reach a settlement with holdout creditors in the New Year and exit default. Indeed, we... 9th December 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Drop in oil price hits Colombia’s financial markets The continued slide in the price of oil has sent Colombia’s financial markets tumbling over the past month. The peso has dropped to a five-year low against the dollar, breaching both our end-14 and... 8th December 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Falling oil prices open the door to rate cuts in Mexico Mexico’s growth story has lost some of its shine in recent weeks. We still expect GDP growth to accelerate in 2015. But the recent fall in oil prices, coupled with the fact that fiscal policy is... 4th December 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil: 50bp hike does not mark start of aggressive tightening The Central Bank of Brazil stepped up the pace of policy tightening last night but the accompanying statement gave a strong signal that future interest rate hikes are likely to be gradual. This... 4th December 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Uruguay: Vásquez victory unlikely to reinvigorate growth Continuity of economic policy following Mr. Vásquez’s victory in Uruguay’s presidential election is likely to ensure that inflation remains high and economic growth relatively weak. We are forecasting... 1st December 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Colombia: will the next move in interest rates be down? Interest rates in Colombia were left unchanged at 4.50% today but, with the risks to economic growthskewed to the downside and inflation under control, we think that rate cuts are becoming... 28th November 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Fall in oil prices pushes Venezuela even closer to default The writing is on the wall for Venezuela as falling oil prices exacerbate severe strains in the balance of payments. Both the government’s ability and willingness to service its foreign currency debt... 28th November 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Two cheers for Brazil’s new economic team The announcement of a new economic team in Brazil – and the nomination of Joaquim Levy as Finance Minister in particular – will strengthen hopes for a return to more orthodox policies during President... 27th November 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Currencies continue to lose ground Most of the region’s currencies have continued to depreciate against the US dollar so far this month, extending a period of weakness that began back in August. Looking ahead, while we think that the... 24th November 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Easing cycle not over in Chile Interest rates in Chile were left unchanged last night at 3.00% and, although policymakers continued to signal the end of the easing cycle, we still think that it has a little further to run. With... 19th November 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Another interest rate cut still likely in Peru Interest rates in Peru were left unchanged at 3.50% last night but, with economic growth still weak and inflation likely to fall back into target in the coming months, we are comfortable with our... 14th November 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Returning presidents dent hopes for reform Dilma Rousseff’s triumph in last month’s Brazilian presidential election made it a hat-trick of victories for incumbents in Latin America this year. Meanwhile, in Uruguay the Frente Amplio party is on... 5th November 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Colombia: next move in interest rates could be down Interest rates in Colombia were left unchanged at 4.50% last night and with economic growth slowing and inflation unlikely to pose a problem for policymakers, further interest rate hikes now seem... 31st October 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil’s central bank tries to claw back lost credibility The surprise decision by Brazil’s central bank to raise interest rates now, rather than waiting for Dilma Rousseff’s new government to take shape, is an early sign that tackling inflation could be... 30th October 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Chile’s economy slowed further in Q3 Data for September suggest that conditions in some parts of Chile’s economy – notably manufacturing – improved following a weak performance in August. But the bigger picture is that GDP growth appears... 29th October 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Dilma scrapes home, quashing hopes of policy shift in Brazil Dilma Rousseff's narrow victory in yesterday’s presidential run-off in Brazil has dented hopes that the elections might deliver much-need economic policy reforms. Growth in Ms. Rousseff’s first term... 27th October 2014 · 1 min read
