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COUNTRY INSIGHTS

The debate over chloroquine reinforces polarization
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 20 May 2020

The Ministry of Health today announced a protocol that allows for the use of chloroquine for mild cases of COVID-19 in the Unified Health System (SUS). Until then, the protocol established the prescription of the drug only for more severe cases. This issue was one of the reasons that led to t...

The formal default approaches
ARGENTINA · Report · 20 May 2020 · 1 response

In our May 14 report, we pointed out that the government had passed the ball to the bondholders and was waiting for a counter-proposal to further advance in the current tense debt negotiations. Effectively, local authorities sought more precise definitions from creditors and also to sense how far...

After much ordeal, fiscal bills are passed
ECUADOR · Report · 20 May 2020 · 2 responses

The National Assembly approved both the Humanitarian Bill and the Ordering of Public Finances Bill after days of hot debate and even within the request of Correistas and Social Christians to archive the second bill. While the approval of the Humanitarian Bill introduced major changes eliminating ...

The military gains space in the government
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 19 May 2020

The interim Minister of Health, General Eduardo Pazuello, on May 19 appointed nine men with a military background to positions in the ministry, further expanding the influence of the Armed Forces in the Jair Bolsonaro government. Even though Pazuello is temporarily commanding the Ministry of Heal...

Essential CIS Politics: May 2020
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 19 May 2020

• The coronavirus has continued to spread throughout the region. • Russian oil companies are considering delaying dividend payments. • Ukraine passed a banking act that enables it to receive an IMF loan. • Belarus is behaving as though the coronavirus does not exist. • In Kazakhstan the C...

Covid-19 is retreating
HUNGARY · Report · 19 May 2020

The Covid-19 epidemic has been retreating in the inner part of Europe since late April. Hungary joined this trend with about a week’s lag in early May, its stock number of active cases decreasing since then. The official view currently is that the epidemic is coming to its end, but the threat of ...

China virus check - week ending May 19
CHINA ADVISORY · Report · 19 May 2020

Our latest data for economic activity in China shows: * Slowing growth in coal consumption in the power industry. * Traffic congestion is becoming more even. * Expressway traffic patterns have been quite variable, probably reflecting post-holiday movement. * Underground metro rail tr...

Yukos shareholders gain rights to vodka
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 19 May 2020

On May 7 a Dutch court gave shareholders in Russian oil giant the right to Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya. This is part of a lawsuit over USD 50 billion. Former owners of Yukos have been suing Russia for years. Yukos was declared bankrupt in 2007 and was then amalgamated into Rosneft. This was a maj...

Emergency aid and political appointments shield Bolsonaro
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 18 May 2020

The second installment of the emergency aid benefit in the amount of R$ 600 began to be paid today by the Jair Bolsonaro government to informal workers. The first recipients will be the beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família program. Workers who are in the Cadastro Único and do not receive Bolsa Famí...

Economics: The mirage of 1Q public finance
MEXICO · Report · 18 May 2020

Public finance data for the first quarter confirmed much of what we already knew about government priorities, but raised further points of concern about how well the public coffers will hold up as we move deeper into the recession. The numbers look extremely upbeat at first glance, with public ba...

The danger of financial and fiscal populism in Congress
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 18 May 2020

President Jair Bolsonaro discusses the veto of the bill that allows for civil servant salary increases with governors. Federal representatives analyze the bill on judicial recovery and bankruptcies during the pandemic and the provisional measure on the reduction of salaries and working hours for ...

Measuring the Pulse of Economic Activity
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 18 May 2020

The depth of the recession depends on the behavior of the Covid-19 contagion curve, which has not yet flattened. Models like the SIR serve to describe the behavior of contagion but cannot make projections. This requires comparisons with other countries and reveals an extremely vexing situation. W...

Politics: Reopening plan - more doubts than points of clarity
MEXICO · Report · 18 May 2020

The plan for reopening social and economic activities the federal government announced last Wednesday was so vague, confusing and contradictory that it left most observers baffled, and most state governors looking to plans of their own. A few general aspects are clear. The strategy consists o...

Russian blue chip companies post bad results
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 18 May 2020

Results for Q1 are out now. They are almost uniformly bad. Energy companies and banks have been hit hard. Airlines are suffering the worst. The worst is yet to come in Q2. It is unlikely that these entities will rebound once coronavirus is beaten. VTB estimates it will take 18 months to recover a...

Russian macro: Budget execution and balance of payments suggest the Russian economy is adjusting
RUSSIA ECONOMICS · Report · 18 May 2020 · 1 response

The Finance Ministry reported that the federal budget revenue flow was strong last month as non-oil-and-gas revenues soared by over 76% y-o-y and reached R1.836 trln. As a result, the budget posted a small surplus in April even though expenditures exceeded R2.26 trln, which is very high, given th...

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