Latin America Chart Pack Inflation risks growing Inflation is at, or close to, multi-year highs across Latin America which has prompted a slew of interest rate hikes across the region. We think that central banks in Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Peru... 19th August 2021 · 14 mins read
Energy Watch Oil prices would still fall even if OPEC expands In this Energy Watch, we discuss the future of OPEC and its role in the oil market. While we suspect that its membership may expand, we think that its ability to influence oil prices will fall over... 19th August 2021 · 7 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Chart Pack Asia bucks the monetary policy trend Several EM central banks have continued to tighten monetary policy over the past month or so in response to strong reopening rebounds (Chile, Czech Republic, Hungary) and/or rising inflation concerns... 18th August 2021 · 10 mins read
Latin America Data Response Chile GDP (Q2 2021) The stronger-than-expected 1.0% q/q rise in Chile’s GDP, alongside the brightening economic outlook, means we are raising our above-consensus 2021 growth forecast to 10% (from 9%). We also expect that... 18th August 2021 · 3 mins read
Latin America Economics Colombia: BanRep to hike despite Q2 GDP drop The sharper-than-expected 2.4% q/q fall in Colombia’s GDP in Q2 was largely due to protest-related disruption in May and masked a strong rebound in output at the end of the quarter. The economic... 18th August 2021 · 3 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Five years on from the “End of a Golden Age” Five years ago this October, we published a piece arguing that the “golden age” for emerging markets had ended and that they were entering a period of permanently weaker growth. Since then, many of... 18th August 2021 · 4 mins read
Latin America Economics Weekly Peru & Mexico hikes, Chile’s public spending spree Peru’s central bank, under the renewed stewardship of Governor Julio Velarde, started its tightening cycle yesterday with a 25bp rate hike, to 0.50%, and we think that rates will rise to 2.75% by the... 13th August 2021 · 7 mins read
Latin America Economics Update Banxico’s tightening cycle progressing slowly Mexico’s central bank hiked interest rates by 25bp, to 4.50%, yesterday but the split vote suggests that the tightening cycle will continue to proceed slowly despite the growing inflation risks. This... 13th August 2021 · 3 mins read
Latin America Data Response Mexico Industrial Production (Jun.) The surprise 0.5% m/m fall in Mexico’s industrial production in June was driven by broad-based declines across sectors, including further disruption to auto production. Industry probably continued to... 11th August 2021 · 2 mins read
Latin America Data Response Brazil IPCA (Jul.) The further rise in Brazil’s headline inflation to 9.0% y/y in July will add to the central bank’s concerns over the inflation outlook. We think that its aggressive tightening cycle has much further... 10th August 2021 · 2 mins read
Frontier Markets Wrap Outlook darkens The disbursement of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) from the IMF later this month is a boon for some Frontier Markets that face very high borrowing costs. But beyond this, it is hard to find many... 10th August 2021 · 3 mins read
Latin America Economics Update What our commodity forecasts mean for Latin America We expect that most commodity prices will come off the boil, which will weigh on recoveries across Latin America, particularly in Peru and Chile. While the brightening domestic picture will boost... 9th August 2021 · 3 mins read
Latin America Data Response Mexico Consumer Prices (Jul.) Despite the small fall in Mexico’s headline inflation rate to 5.8% y/y in July, core inflation rose further to 4.7% y/y on the back of higher services inflation. This strong inflation reading will... 9th August 2021 · 2 mins read
Latin America Economics Chile GDP, central bank hawks, Brazil’s meteor This week’s strong activity data from Chile reaffirms our long-held optimism over its economic recovery, and will probably cause the central bank to adopt a more hawkish stance. Other central banks in... 6th August 2021 · 7 mins read
Latin America Economics Focus The economic fallout from political risks in Lat Am The pandemic appears to be accelerating a political trend towards populism in Latin America. While there is a lot of uncertainty about how this might play out, it generally points towards loose fiscal... 5th August 2021 · 15 mins read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil: further hikes in store as inflation concerns build The hawkish statement accompanying yesterday’s 100bp rate hike by the Brazilian central bank (to 5.25%) means that the Selic rate will increase further than we had anticipated. We now expect it to be... 5th August 2021 · 3 mins read