Latin America Economics Update Colombian interest rates still have further to rise The Central Bank of Colombia (BANREP) hiked interest rates by 25bps to 4.25% on Friday night. Although policymakers softened their tone from previous meetings, we still expect rising inflation to... 21st June 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Food price shock still has a little further to run Central bankers – and some in the markets – appear increasingly hopeful that the recent spike in food price inflation, which has driven headline inflation above its target in pretty much every country... 17th June 2011 · 1 min read
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 Chart Pack Domestic demand drives decent Q1 growth First quarter GDP data released over the past month confirm what we already knew – most countries in Latin America experienced a strong start to 2011. The problem, however, is that growth is still... 31st May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economic Outlook Domestic demand set to drive growth The growth outlook for Latin America remains good. GDP growth is likely to slow a little over the coming quarters as external demand weakens and commodity prices come off of the boil, but the domestic... 26th May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Chart Pack Rising inflation pushes 'currency wars' to the backburner The past month has brought further evidence of rising inflation in Latin America. For the most part, this is still being driven by higher food and energy prices, which in turn are a reflection of the... 27th April 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Nudging up our forecast for Colombian rates We are nudging up our end-year forecast for Colombian interest rates to 4.5% (from 4.0%) in response to the recent spike in global commodity prices. 21st March 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economic Outlook The return of inflation? The growth outlook for Latin America remains good but inflation looks set to accelerate over the coming quarters. Further policy tightening is likely in most countries, although in most cases the... 16th March 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update BANREP turns more hawkish, but rate hikes likely to be gradual The Central Bank of Colombia (BANREP) held interest rates at 3.0% last night, as expected. But the accompanying statement was more hawkish than in previous. There is a risk that interest rates will... 1st February 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Chart Pack Growth to stay strong in 2011 but imbalances will widen The outlook for Latin America in 2011 is, on the whole, pretty good. We expect almost all countries in the region to grow at around their potential rates next year. But while there are few concerns... 21st December 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Could the next move in Brazilian rates be down? The incoming administration in Brazil has a historic opportunity to re-balance the policy mix in favour of tighter fiscal policy and looser monetary policy (and a weaker currency). What’s more, there... 16th December 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Economic Outlook Outlook good but testing times lie ahead The outlook for Latin America remains good and, while the developed world will struggle to grow by 2% next year, we expect the region as a whole to grow by 4%. Brazil, Chile, Peru and Colombia will... 14th December 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Currency concerns to temper rate hikes Strong capital inflows continue to create something of a headache for policymakers in Latin America. On the one hand, growth should remain strong over the coming quarters, while the inflation outlook... 29th November 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Colombia: 'Currency war' has only just begun A raft of measures announced by the Colombian authorities late last week are unlikely to have much impact on the value of the peso. In the absence of a drop in commodity prices, capital inflows are... 1st November 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Chart Pack Not in a bubble... yet The prospect of further policy easing in the developed world is stoking fears about asset price bubbles in Latin America. High commodity prices, good growth prospects and comparatively high returns... 28th October 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Focus Can Colombia win its currency war? The recent rapid appreciation of the Colombian peso bears all the hallmarks of so-called ‘Dutch Disease’. But while policymakers are rightly concerned about the implications for the competitiveness of... 25th October 2010 · 1 min read
