COLOMBIA - Report 24 Mar 2015

Executive Summary

The economy slowed in Q4, with GDP at 3.5% falling short of the government’s 3.8% projection. That took 2014 growth down to 4.6%, from 4.9% in 2013. The main activity drivers continued to be construction (up 5.9%) and commerce (4.5%), followed by government expendit...

BRAZIL POLITICS - Report 24 Mar 2015

CNT/MDA poll confirms President Dilma´s loss of popularity

The CNT/MDA poll released yesterday, March 23, has confirmed the negative popularity scenario currently being experienced by President Dilma Rousseff. Her governance is perceived as “excellent” by only 11% of those interviewe...

ECUADOR - Report 24 Mar 2015

Executive Summary

Around 100,000 people from all sectors of the economy marched last Thursday to protest against the draconian import taxes recently imposed by the government to control the balance of trade deficit.However, this was not the only claim.The arrogance of the regime, the...

MEXICO - Report 24 Mar 2015

Executive Summary

The latest GEA-ISA polling results point to a scenario quite different from that observed in September of last year, when the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) enjoyed an edge of three to one over its closest competitor, the National Action Party (P...

MEXICO - Report 24 Mar 2015

Executive Summary

Mexico’s federal government reported in recent days on the progress that has been achieved to date in relation to the structural reforms that Mexico has adopted since 2012. Significant movement has been recorded in relation to energy, financial telecommunications a...

UKRAINE - In Brief 24 Mar 2015

Over the last few days in Ukraine intensified conflict between President Petro Poroshenko and Dnipropetrovsk oblast governor Igor Kolomoyskiy. The point is that the authorities finally dared to overtoo...

BRAZIL ECONOMICS - Report 23 Mar 2015

Nobody doubts that inflation this year will be very high, with the consensus projections now approaching 8%, even with the expectation that the deceleration of economic activity (already starting to be reflected in the unemployment rate) will reduce real wages and slow growth of service prices.

BRAZIL POLITICS - Report 23 Mar 2015

Another presidential popularity poll (CNI/Ibope) may be released. In the economy, we highlight the release of the 2014 GDP. Central Bank President Alexandre Tombini speaks in the Senate on the economic environment, and the committees in charge of the fiscal austerity packages define a work sch...

TURKEY - Report 22 Mar 2015

Executive Summary

Kurdish Leader Ocalan issued a historic call to PKK to end the armed struggle in Turkey, but details were left deliberately up in the air. President Erdogan suddenly rebelled against his own government, bashing the way the Peace Process is handled. The recent spate ...

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - Report 20 Mar 2015

Executive Summary

Preliminary Central Bank estimates put the 2014 NFPS deficit at 3.0% of GDP, 0.2 percentage points above the target. Though this comes as a surprise, definitive figures are yet to be seen.

Inflation rebounded to its normal levels February, with deflationary...

MEXICO - Report 20 Mar 2015

Executive Summary

President Enrique Peña Nieto and his administration have scored some major successes in recent weeks, such as intercepting top crime bosses, indirectly confronting a couple of the country’s most powerful monopolies and uncovering a major case of corruption. But acc...

PHILIPPINES - In Brief 20 Mar 2015

President Benigno Aquino has been on the receiving end of a string of negative feedbacks lately, all arising from the botched operation to catch two terrorists in Mindanao last January. [For background story on the Mindanao operation, see Quarterly R...

BRAZIL POLITICS - Report 19 Mar 2015

Cid Gomes’s dismissal first step toward ministerial reform

The dismissal of the Minister of Education, Cid Gomes (PROS-CE), which took place yesterday afternoon, is a consequence of his clashing with Congress. In opting to remove Cid, the Planalto is signaling a willingness to preven...

MEXICO - Report 19 Mar 2015

Executive Summary

The exchange rate has risen consistently since September 2014, climbing to an historical high of 15.57 pesos to the dollar on March 10, which marked an accumulated depreciation of 18.2% since September 2014. In that context, Mexico’s Foreign Exchange Commission, pr...

MEXICO - Report 19 Mar 2015

Executive Summary

As Mexico prepares for its midterm elections to be held June 7, polling data is still scarce when it comes to many of the contests that will be playing out in state and local races. However, there is just enough data available from reliable sources to give us an id...