GlobalSource Partners | Country Insights

The Turkish economy contracted by 1.5%, y/y, in the second quarter of the year (1.4%, WDA), which was less steep than both the consensus and our forecast had it. As a corollary, quarterly (or sequential) growth, at 1.2%, was also markedly better than our forecast (Graph 1). The key driver of our ...

Widodo seems serious about moving the capital

INDONESIA · Report · 02 Sep 2019

The issue of moving the capital city out of Java has been alive for more than half a century, since Indonesia’s first president, Ir. Soekarno, promoted an idea of moving the capital to Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan province on Borneo. So when President Joko Widodo raised the sam...

GDP in the Second Quarter of 2019

BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 02 Sep 2019

GDP grew by 0.4% (annualized rate of 1.8%) in the second quarter, reversing the contraction of 0.1% in the first quarter. The rise was higher than indicated by the behavior of the IBC-Br, and greater than the median projections reported by Bloomberg. The intensity and composition of this growth d...

Uribe vs. the Supreme Court, FARC 2.0 & growth

COLOMBIA · Report · 02 Sep 2019

At the Supreme Court a case against ex-president Álvaro Uribe for witness tampering is filled with intrigue, secret tapes, betrayal and revanche. To add insult to injury, the Supreme Court was found to have wiretapped Uribe. This is likely to be a political trial, in which whatever the Supreme Co...

BoI shifts to a more dovish forward guidance

ISRAEL · Report · 02 Sep 2019

Rates remained on hold last week, but with the MPC shifting to a more dovish forward guidance. We still do not expect further monetary loosening as long as growth remains fairly robust. The main private consumption indicators are pointing to steady household demand in early Q319. Mortgage demand...

Russia invites Iran to use Crimean port facilities

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 02 Sep 2019

On September 2 Moscow announced that it is inviting Iran to use ports in the disputed Crimean Peninsula. Iran is an OPEC member but this has not helped much in maintaining access to oil markets. Iranian crude oil exports have fallen by 80% due to US sanctions. However, oil product exports have no...

OMAN: Fiscal deep dive 2: Governance vacuum threatens fiscal reforms

GULF COUNTRIES · Forecast · 01 Sep 2019 · 1 response

With the exception of VAT, most of the easy fiscal adjustment has already happened. Further significant and painful reforms are unlikely to be implemented due to the current absence of strong leadership. Alternatives to reform are limited, asset sales are unsustainable and regional support has be...

Gulf weekly: Rouhani-Trump could meet, Abu Dhabi may issue and Aramco looks to Tokyo

GULF COUNTRIES · Report · 01 Sep 2019

It was another busy week politically in the region, with a further uptick in tensions in Lebanon and Yemen (not to mention Palestine, in the run-up to Israeli elections and the Kushner peace plan), but also unexpected openness to a possible US-Iran detente (we're skeptics). At a time when regiona...

The month of Syria

TURKEY · Report · 01 Sep 2019

Ankara is in trouble in Syria once again. This time it is different, because Erdogan can get along neither with Putin, nor the US (ex-Trump). Bad-case scenarios such as sanctions, clashes with Kurds and Assad’s Army in Idlib dominate our crystal ball. At home, Erdogan is feeling the pressure f...

Tax break for Russian LNG company

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 01 Sep 2019

On August 30 it was announced that Novatek (Russia's second biggest LNG extractor) has been granted a USD 597 million tax break. This is to incentivize building a part in the Arctic nar Gydan. Putin supports this effort. He sees the Arctic as the key region for economic growth. This port will als...

The National Treasury proposes selling Eskom’s coal powered plants to reduce debt

SOUTH AFRICA · Report · 30 Aug 2019

The Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, has in the past remained quite vocal about the fiscal stress the country’s State-Owned Entities (SOEs) have placed on the economy, especially Eskom. The embattled power utility has not only been struggling to keep lights on, but has also been unable to meet its...

Our new projections reflect a slow first semester and a difficult fiscal situation

PANAMA · Forecast · 30 Aug 2019

The NFPS results for the first two quarters of 2019 showed what the new administration will have to deal with in the second half of the year: large deficits as a result of lower revenues and higher expenditures. The net position of the NFPS (-US 2,317 million) doubles the amount of the same perio...

Volatility of the real, interventions and capital flows

BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 30 Aug 2019

This Report has two objectives. The first is to present clear evidence that the behavior of the real is very volatile, justifying the Central Bank’s interventions trying to smooth out the exchange rate fluctuations. The theme of these interventions – and the recent change of the intervention inst...

OMAN: Fiscal deep dive 1: H1 performance won’t be sustained

GULF COUNTRIES · Forecast · 30 Aug 2019

H1 fiscal numbers were surprisingly good thanks to one-off gains including the lagged impact of the 2017 income tax law and higher 2018 oil prices, a surge in investment income, and the sale of a stake in Khazzan gasfield. However, this will not be sustained in H2, when seasonal trends mean there...

Notes from Beijing

CHINA ADVISORY · Report · 30 Aug 2019

After several days attending meetings in Beijing among senior officials, along with Chinese and western journalists, the top areas of concern are the Hong Kong protests, the slowing economy, and in last place, the Trade War. De-risking the financial system remains a top priority, despite pressure...