NEWS FLASH

WEBINAR - LATIN AMERICA: FISCAL PRESSURES AND POLITICAL SHIFTS...

Credit stress in the non-financial firms
INDIA · Report · 20 Nov 2018 · 1 response

We utilize firm data to identify the set of large stressed non-financial firms. We measure the size of balance sheet, borrowing and bank borrowing in these firms relative to the overall non-financial corporate sector. About 60% of the debt outstanding – by banks or by others – is in stressed firm...

Economics: Positive results for EPN’s public finance handling
MEXICO · Report · 20 Nov 2018

As we near the end of the six-year administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto, we can draw a generally favorable balance sheet of its handling of government finances. His government grew tax revenues consistently between the time it took office at the end of 2012 until 2016, including 27.4% g...

Politics: The transition and the next power elite
MEXICO · Report · 20 Nov 2018

The prolonged transition period is about to conclude, and with it an unprecedented period characterized by both President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his allies in Congress taking precipitous and premature decisions and actions, initial signs of strains and conflicts within the incoming...

Economic activity: Anything new?
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 19 Nov 2018 · 1 response

The numbers for September indicate that the cyclical recovery continued in the third quarter, but without any signs of sustained acceleration. There are factors in place favorable to recovery: given the large negative GDP gap (high unemployment and low installed capacity utilization), inflation r...

Negotiations for the presidency of the Lower House and other weekly topics
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 19 Nov 2018

The election for the presidency of the Lower House is one of the main items on the agenda this week; Rodrigo Maia (DEM) meets with recently elected congressional representatives in Brasília. Labor unions will demonstrate against Pension Reform. In the Lower House and Senate, important votes are o...

Russian oligarchs not welcome at Davos
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 19 Nov 2018

Last week it emerged that Andrei Kostin, Viktor Vekselberg and Oleg Deripaska have been uninvited to Davos for this coming January. PM Medvedev reacted with ire to the news. He threatened that no Russian will take part in the World Economic Forum unless these men are included. A final decision ha...

A rate hike in November remains a real possibility
ISRAEL · Report · 19 Nov 2018

Headline inflation in October reached 1.2% y/y, core 1.0% y/y, and appears well entrenched within the target range. GDP growth appears soft in Q318 (2.3% saar), but excluding taxes on imports, GDP growth hit 3%. We see a near 50% chance of a rate hike in November, despite the fact that there will...

Excellent fiscal data for Q3
HUNGARY · In Brief · 19 Nov 2018

The general government sector's net borrowing requirement was the equivalent of -0.5% of GDP in Q3, i.e. the government had a small net financing surplus in that quarter. That was a major positive change from Q3 2017, when the net borrowing requirement was a considerable 3.2% of GDP. As a result,...

Enjoy it while it lasts
TURKEY · Report · 18 Nov 2018 · 1 response

Relations with the US could improve further, if the Trump administration decides to probe Pastor Gulen’s involvement in the 2016 aborted coup. In any case, we detect few landmines in the diplomatic landscape for Erdogan, who has a very strong incentive to preserve the status quo with the US, Germ...

RusHydro debuts Eurobond
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 18 Nov 2018

On 15 November RusHydro debuted the largest ever Russian Eurobond denominated in Renminbi to date. The issuance was for 3 year bonds worth USD 216 million (in Yuan). This is the very first time that a Russian company has issued a Eurobond for offshore investors in Chinese currency. Russian compan...

The troubles of diplomacy
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 16 Nov 2018

The US intention to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty has caused a certain level of anxiety in Moscow as it may potentially lead to a new round in the arms race. However, there is also some optimism among Russia’s elite because disarmament talks are one of the few topics ...

Macroeconomic policy is at crossroads
HUNGARY · Report · 16 Nov 2018

GDP growth remained markedly more robust than expected in Q3 2018, due to strength of the non-government services sector. Rapid growth was also supported by construction activity, whereas industrial output was held back by car manufacturing and the weakening cycle in the Euro Area, and consumer d...

Does monetary policy work?
CHINA ADVISORY · Report · 16 Nov 2018

Does Chinese monetary policy work? If the central bank changes interest rates, does the market react? Or are interest rates irrelevant and only fiscal policy – direct intervention – effective? These questions are essential to understand the effectiveness of interest rate policy in China. Ultim...

Stress in NBFCs and real estate companies
INDIA · Report · 16 Nov 2018

We review the stages of the slow-moving crisis in Indian finance. At present, NBFCs are facing a stress test. We analyze the small subset of listed NBFCs and identify the firms that have fared the best and worst since the date of the IL&FS default. We also identify the firms with the highest and ...

Kazakh Bank to IPO on LSE
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 15 Nov 2018

Kaspi Bank announced on November 9 that it will launch an IPO next year, listing shares on the London Stock Exchange. Kaspi is one of Kazakhstan's most profitable banks. It has made a profit of over USD 200 million so far this year. The announcement came on the same day that Vladimir Putin met Pr...