Latin America Economics Update Colombian rates edge higher The Central Bank of Colombia (BANREP) hiked interest rates by 25bps to 4.0% last night. With domestic demand still driving strong economic growth and inflation likely to peak higher than policymakers... 31st May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Mexican rates to stay on hold As expected, the Central Bank of Mexico (BANXICO) held interest rates at 4.5% this afternoon. Rising food and energy inflation will test the nerve of policymakers over the coming months, but with core... 27th May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Rates to edge higher but peak by Q4 Concerns over rising inflation have displaced fears about speculative capital inflows and excessive currency appreciation at the top of the list of policy priorities. Interest rates look set to rise... 23rd May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Mexican Q1 GDP disappoints The pick-up in annual GDP growth in Mexico in Q1 masks the fact that in q/q terms the economy slowed fairly sharply. With the current pace of manufacturing growth set to ease later in the year as... 19th May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Q1 growth bolstered by spike in commodity prices The spike in commodity prices in Q1 supported strong growth in both Chile and Venezuela. But while Chilean policymakers are well placed to deal with any fall in commodity prices next year, Venezuelan... 18th May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Peruvian economy still growing at a red-hot pace March’s activity data indicate that the Peruvian economy continued to grow at a red-hot pace in Q1 and that it is on course to expand by around 7% this year. 16th May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Further tightening to come in Chile & Peru Last night’s decision to raise Chilean interest rates by 50bps to 5% surprised the markets but was in line with our forecast. By contrast, the decision to raise Peruvian interest rates by 25bps was... 13th May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Rising inflation to test BANXICO's nerve The pick-up in Mexican inflation last month was due almost entirely to a rise in food prices. By contrast, core inflation remains more subdued. The lagged effects of higher global commodity prices are... 9th May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazilian industry still facing an uphill struggle Brazilian industrial production expanded at its fastest pace in a year in Q1 but the outlook for Q2 and beyond is less promising. The bigger picture remains that Brazilian growth is still being driven... 4th May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil's experience suggests that Peruvian equities could rally Peruvian markets have been hammered since Ollanta Humala, the left-wing candidate, won the first round of the Presidential election last month. There are several parallels to Brazil’s experience... 3rd May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update BCB still in a bind Last night’s decision by the Brazilian Central Bank (BCB) to raise interest rates by a smaller-thanexpected 25bps illustrates the bind that policymakers currently find themselves in: how do you tackle... 21st April 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Currency wars take a back seat... for now Concerns over rising inflation have displaced fears about speculative capital inflows and excessive currency appreciation at the top of the list of policy priorities. Interest rates look set to rise... 20th April 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Why are Brazilian interest rates so high? One of the questions that we are most frequently asked is why are Brazilian interest rates so high? We think that the answer lies in the fact that fiscal policy is too loose and, more generally, that... 18th April 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Chilean rates to continue rising The Central Bank of Chile (CBC) hiked interest rates by 50bps to 4.5% last night. With the near-term outlook for growth still very good and inflation likely to top 5% in Q4, further policy tightening... 13th April 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Peru: Humala win means markets set for rollercoaster ride It appears that the Presidential election in Peru is heading for a second round of voting between Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori on 5th June. While a victory for Ms. Fujimori would perhaps be the... 11th April 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update President Rousseff heads to Beijing President Rousseff's trip to Beijing this week is likely to produce a welter of statistics illustrating how both countries have benefitted from each other's respective development in recent years. But... 11th April 2011 · 1 min read
