CHINA FINANCIAL - Report 14 Jan 2015

Special Points To Highlight In This Issue:In spite of overwhelming historical evidence, and a sophisticated understanding of the mechanics of financial distress in finance theory, one of the most consistent mistakes macroeconomists make is their failure to recognize the growth constraints that em...

HUNGARY - In Brief 14 Jan 2015

CPI-inflation for December 2014 is out this morning: -0.7% mom / -0.9% yoy (-0.7% yoy in November). The consensus expectation was -0.4-(-0.5%) yoy in various polls. Core inflation is down to 0.8% yoy from 1.2% in November, and our estimate of the underlying inflation rate is down very sharply, to...

MEXICO - Report 13 Jan 2015

Executive Summary Aggregate supply and demand data at the third quarter of 2014 describe a scenario in which Mexico’s non petroleum exports remain strong, private investment and consumption are recovering at a slightly more solid pace, and public spending remains stalled as continuing growth in p...

MEXICO - Report 13 Jan 2015

Executive Summary The two events that will dominate political life in Mexico during the first half of the year are this June’s midterm congressional elections and simultaneous local races in 17 states, and the spring session of Congress with its huge backlog of crucial legislation. At a time when...

UKRAINE - Forecast 13 Jan 2015

Executive Summary Though the year has begun, it’s still hard to envision how the next 12 months will unfold. Russian aggression is still on the agenda, but the core troublemaker right now is Ukraine’s 2015 budget. Disregarding the need to comply with the IMF austerity measures, the Ukrainian auth...

RUSSIA ENERGY / FINANCE - In Brief 12 Jan 2015

Rosstat released today CPI data for December which matched preliminary estimates published at year-end. In December consumer prices rose 2.6% m-o-m, highest growth rates since January, 2005. In annual terms CPI reached 11.4% y-o-y, maximum since August, 2009. Rise in inflation was broad-based. Fo...

BRAZIL POLITICS - Report 12 Jan 2015

The government’s help for electric energy distributors and the possible ministerial meeting are the two most important events for the week.Decisions on second and third-tier posts are also on the agenda. In the economy, we highlight the release of the GDP preview for November by the Central Bank....

HUNGARY - Forecast 12 Jan 2015

Executive SummarySince our previous Quarterly Report in October 2014, Hungary’s outlook has not changed dramatically, though it has been significantly modified by external factors like sharply falling crude oil prices, the weakening of the European business cycle, and the most recent deterioratio...

BRAZIL ECONOMICS - Report 12 Jan 2015

In its most recent pronouncement, the Central Bank promised it would do “what is necessary to reduce inflation”. This is not the first time this promise has been made, and the fear that it will again not be kept justifies caution in making any projections. Although the presence of Joaquim Levy at...

TURKEY - Report 11 Jan 2015

Executive Summary As a terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo shocked the world, smaller scale incidents in Istanbul were causing deep concern for us. Experts warn that a spate of bombings and sabotages may be in the cards for Turkey. AKP successfully hushed up the graft probe against four ex-minister...

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - In Brief 11 Jan 2015

The Central Bank released GDP growth figures for 2014. Expansion of economic activities was estimated at 7.1% compared to 2013. The figure is well above expectations and is the highest rate registered in Latin America, whose average reached only 1.1%. Leading activities were mining (20.9%), const...

INDIA - Report 07 Jan 2015

Executive Summary The increased confidence associated with the new BJP government has shown up nicely in the data for announcements of new investment projects. Quarter-on-quarter growth of announcements for the Oct-Dec 2014 quarter was +22% for government projects, +6.4% for private projects and ...

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - Report 07 Jan 2015

The rapid depreciation of the Russian ruble and unexpected actions by the Central Bank undermined popular trust in the government and persuaded Russians to convert ruble savings into other currencies or buy consumer goods. So far, only a small segment of Russians, those with significant savings h...

VENEZUELA - In Brief 05 Jan 2015 2 responses

After the long suspense caused by President Maduro’s announcements of "a new exchange system", made on December 30, Exchange Agreement 32 circulated on January 5. The delay, added to recent changes in the boards of Pdvsa and Cencoex, suggest that the government’s team disagreed on the foreign exc...

TURKEY - Report 05 Jan 2015

December CPI inflation came in at a negative 0.4%, which was markedly lower than expected (0.1% increase). The 12-month CPI inflation hence fell quite sharply, ending the year at 8.2%, down from 9.2% in November. Domestic-PPI also fell sharply, ending the year at 6.4%, down from 8.4% (Table 1; Gr...