Latin America Economics Update Brazil hike rates; all eyes now on the real Calling turning points is always tricky but, assuming that the real remains stable over the coming months, we think that last night’s 50bp increase in Brazilian interest rates to 13.25% could be the... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Steady core inflation indication of a structural EM slowdown Most of the recent slowdown in inflation across the emerging world has been the result of the weakness in food and fuel inflation. Meanwhile, core inflation is barely any lower than a couple of years... 29th April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Chile Retail Sales, Ind. Prod. & Copper Prod. (Mar.) The raft of weak activity data for Chile, while disappointing, are unlikely to have prevented a robust expansion of GDP in Q1. We suspect that much of last month’s weakness can be explained by the... 29th April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Lat Am currencies find their feet Following an extended period of weakness, it appears that Latin America’s currencies have finally started to find their feet. Most have been broadly flat against the dollar so far this month, while... 28th April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update A glimmer of hope for Brazil’s manufacturing sector Some of the structural constraints that have held back manufacturing in Brazil over the past decade now appear to have eased. So while we don’t expect an imminent turnaround in the sector, or an Asian... 27th April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Colombia: limited room for interest rate cuts this year Interest rates in Colombia were left unchanged at 4.50% on Friday night and above target inflation and a large current account deficit limit the room for monetary easing to counter slowing economic... 27th April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Mexico Retail Sales (Feb.) The pick-up in retail sales growth in February suggests that consumer spending in Mexico has strengthened in the early months of this year, even if problems in the mining sector have weighed on wider... 24th April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Mexico IGAE (Feb.) & Bi-Weekly CPI (Apr.) Activity data from Mexico for February were a little weaker than expected and leave the economy on course to grow by a relatively sluggish 2.5% y/y in the first quarter of the year. There is better... 23rd April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Argentina Activity Indicator (Apr.) Our Argentina Activity Indicator (AAI) suggests that conditions in the economy have stabilised following sharp falls in output last year, but the best we can say is that GDP is stagnating – there is... 23rd April 2015 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Chart Pack EM growth sinks as BRICs woes deepen EM growth appears to have sunk to a post-crisis low of around 4% y/y in the first quarter of this year, driven in large part by a deepening downturn in the BRICs. China has grabbed most of the... 23rd April 2015 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Will the rally in emerging market equities continue? Since the end of Q1, the return from the MSCI Emerging Markets Index has been impressive and eclipsed that from the MSCI World Index of developed market equities. Such outperformance has been a rare... 22nd April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Brazil Current Account (Mar.) Changes to the methodology that Brazil uses to produce its balance of payments data have resulted in an even larger current account deficit. However, the impact on financial markets – and the currency... 22nd April 2015 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update The implications of a fall in EM dollar GDP There is a good chance that emerging market GDP, measured in dollar terms, will fall this year. But while this will weigh on investors’ dollar-denominated returns and could raise debt burdens in EMs... 21st April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Reasons to remain upbeat on Mexico Despite a recession in the mining sector and an impending fiscal squeeze, we remain upbeat about Mexico. A gradual improvement in the labour market and a likely recovery in the US, after a weak start... 21st April 2015 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update China’s slowdown ripples across emerging world The effects of slower growth in China are already rippling across the emerging world. Indeed, while China’s economy is still growing by anywhere between 5–7% y/y depending on whose numbers you choose... 20th April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Chile: policy tightening not imminent Interest rates in Chile were left unchanged at 3.00% last night and despite the central bank adopting a relatively more hawkish tone than a couple of months ago in its statement accompanying the... 17th April 2015 · 1 min read
