Latin America Economics Update Chile: Central bank holds rates, but further cuts to come Chile’s central bank left its policy interest rate unchanged at 2.50% following its latest MPC meeting, but with inflation set to remain below target and no sign of a turnaround in the economy, we... 16th June 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Regional recovery to continue, politics willing Latin America’s economy finally returned to growth in Q1 and the latest data suggest that the recovery continued in Q2. While domestic political developments are a key downside risk to the outlook, we... 14th June 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Peru: monetary policy easing cycle has further to run Peru’s central bank unexpectedly left its policy interest rate unchanged at 4.00%, but the accompanying statement hinted at further easing and we think additional rate cuts are likely. We expect the... 9th June 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil’s electoral court ruling: a primer Brazil’s electoral court has reconvened this week to rule on whether illegal campaign donations made during the 2014 presidential election invalidate the Rousseff-Temer ticket. In this Update, we... 6th June 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Spillovers from Venezuela’s crisis limited to smaller economies The deepening crisis in Venezuela could have significant spillovers to some Central American and Caribbean countries such as Nicaragua and Cuba. But the impact on larger countries in the region... 6th June 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Mexico survey data rebound to pre-Trump levels Survey data from Mexico strengthened markedly in May and are now generally back to their levels prior to Trump’s election victory in November. Elsewhere, the latest survey data from Brazil continue to... 2nd June 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Temer fallout contained, but yield curve steepens Brazil’s financial markets sold off sharply in the immediate aftermath of the latest corruption allegations against President Temer, with equities, the currency and bonds all coming under pressure... 26th May 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil: no signs (yet) of major tightening in financial conditions It’s still too soon to say how Brazil’s latest political drama will play out, but the key point for the economy is that the crisis has not yet caused a sharp tightening in financial conditions. 22nd May 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Chile: further interest rate cuts unlikely Chile’s central bank cut its policy interest rate by another 25bp, to 2.50%, but with the economy showing tentative signs of recovery, we think the easing cycle is over for now. We expect the policy... 19th May 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil: corruption allegations deal fresh blow to reform agenda Allegations that Brazilian president Michel Temer endorsed bribes to buy the silence of former house speaker, Eduardo Cunha, has dealt a fresh blow to the government’s reform agenda. The real and bond... 18th May 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Mexico: Notes from the ground We have just returned from a week of meetings with investors and local contacts in Mexico City. In this Update we summarise four quick takeaways. 15th May 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Peru’s central bank set to ease monetary policy further The Central Reserve Bank of Peru’s decision to cut its policy interest rate by 25bp, to 4.00%, took most analysts by surprise, but not us. We expect one further 25bp cut, to 3.75%, over the coming... 12th May 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Argentina: progress on reform slows ahead of legislative elections President Macri has made solid progress in tackling Argentina’s economic vulnerabilities over the past eighteen months but reform momentum more recently has slowed. With legislative elections... 9th May 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Temer’s reforms inch forward in face of mounting opposition Despite mounting public opposition, President Temer’s reform agenda is inching ahead in Brazil. Labour market reforms have passed the lower house, but the real test lies ahead with pension reform. The... 4th May 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil and Mexico survey data continue to diverge April’s survey data point to a continued improvement in Brazil’s economy at the start of Q2, while in Mexico they suggest conditions have deteriorated further. But with provisional Q1 GDP data for... 3rd May 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil: lower structural interest rate depends on fiscal reform There is now broad agreement in financial markets that interest rates in Brazil will fall into single digits this year, but keeping them there will require the “neutral” or “structural” level of... 2nd May 2017 · 1 min read
