Latin America Economics Update QE3 would be a damp squib for Lat Am markets Hopes are rising that further unconventional monetary easing by Western central banks – be it a third round of quantitative easing (QE) by the Fed, or Long Term Refinancing Operations (LTROs) by the... 16th February 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Making sense of Latin America’s inflation conundrum Recent data have given mixed messages on the outlook for inflation in Latin America. On the one hand, inflation seems to be firmly on a downward path in Brazil and Peru. Yet the drop in Chilean... 14th February 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Fiscal reforms still key to preventing excessive FX appreciation On past form at least, the latest set of measures announced by Colombia and Brazil to curb currency strength are unlikely to have a lasting impact on foreign exchange markets. Instead, fiscal reforms... 6th February 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazilian industry finding its feet The rise in January’s manufacturing PMI adds to recent evidence that Brazil’s economy has turned the corner. We expect interest rates to be lowered by a further 100bps to 9.5% over the next couple of... 1st February 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Chart Pack A flying start, but can it last? Financial markets in Latin America have made a flying start to 2012 following a recovery in global risk appetite and an improvement in the incoming economic data. Nonetheless, we would caution against... 26th January 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Savings hold the key to dealing with falling commodity prices The recent rebound in commodity prices has eased concerns about growth outlook for Latin America. But the key point remains that the windfall from high prices has been spent, rather than saved... 26th January 2012 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Global growth prospects - where we differ from consensus As the IMF released its latest forecasts yesterday and we published our Global Economic Outlook last week, this seems a good time to take stock of how our forecasts compare with others. Overall... 25th January 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Will China pull the rug from under Latin America? This is the first edition of our new monthly publication Latin America Watch. This will analyse major talking points in the region and preview key data and events. In this issue we look at the impact... 19th January 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Few surprises as BCB signals further easing to come There were few surprises from Brazilian policymakers last night as they cut interest rates by 50bps to 10.50% and signalled further easing to come. Despite tentative signs that the economy has picked... 19th January 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil: Retail strength unlikely to offset industrial weakness Brazilian retail sales grew by far more than expected in November. But the strong performance is unlikely to have prevented the economy from slipping into a mild recession in the second half of last... 12th January 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil meets inflation target by the skin of its teeth Perhaps a little against the odds, the Brazilian Central Bank (BCB) just about met its inflation target last year as headline inflation slowed to 6.5% in December. Although it may be sticky, inflation... 6th January 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazilian industry remains under the cosh While Brazilian industry finally returned to growth in November, we doubt that the increase will mark the beginning of a sustained pick-up in industrial activity. Indeed, the relatively weak outlook... 5th January 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Policy set to ease across the region in 2012 Growth concerns will increasingly dominate Latin American policymakers’ agendas as we move into 2012. With many of the world’s advanced economies headed towards recession, and China’s economy... 20th December 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Chart Pack Growth concerns to dominate in first half of 2012 The past month has brought yet more evidence that Brazil’s economy has come rapidly off the boil. Indeed, it seems likely that the country may now, in technical terms at least, be in recession. For... 15th December 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update How would a crisis in Europe hit Latin American banks? 8th December 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Lat Am equities to disappoint in 2012, outperform in 2013 In light of our revised assumption on the timing of the euro-zone break-up, we have revised our equity markets forecasts. We think that all of the region’s markets will fall next year, and expect them... 7th December 2011 · 1 min read
