COLOMBIA - Report 22 Dec 2021 1 response

Loans disbursed in December 2020 deteriorated much faster than those granted before the pandemic. It looks as though the end of 2020 marked the peak in the speed of credit quality deterioration. Loans disbursed in July 2021 seem marginally better, in terms of quality deterioration, than those dis...

BRAZIL ECONOMICS - Report 22 Dec 2021

The approval of the budget for 2022 made obvious what observers already knew. The spending cap rule was shattered, but not only to help the poorest households. The creation of the Auxílio Brasil program to replace Bolsa Família was the Trojan horse of the battle over spending. The moratorium on p...

HUNGARY - In Brief 22 Dec 2021

Today, the government cabinet decided to freeze the interest rates of existing (= not new) variable-rate mortgage loans at the end-October, 2021 level for the whole of H1 2022. This means that banks will not be able to charge more than this level even if the loan contract allowed them to do so.Po...

RUSSIA ECONOMICS - In Brief 22 Dec 2021

Rosstat reported that industrial output increased y-o-y by 5.3% and 5.2% in November and 11M21. As regularly happened in 2020 and 2021, statistics for the preceding month were revised up. This revision was quite significant as, for instance, previously reported y-o-y October growth in manufacturi...

CHINA - Report 22 Dec 2021

Growth continues to be weak. In November, industrial output grew 3.8% y/y, down 1.1 pps from Q3, much lower than the growth rates of recent years. Investment is also low, and was up 7.9% y/y, and down 1.2 pps from January-June. Its adjusted growth rate is instead negative. The real estate market ...

ECUADOR - Report 22 Dec 2021

The Comptroller General exonerated President Lasso from any involvement in the Pandora papers. In this context, the case was archived, and the dark clouds of a possible impeachment blew away. But the relationship with the Assembly is still complicated and even more uncertain than at the beginn...

PHILIPPINES - In Brief 22 Dec 2021

Pulse Asia released today the results of its survey of on voters’ presidential preferences conducted in the first week of December. The late dictator’s son, former Senator Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., was the top pick, with a majority (53%) of the respondents saying they will vote for him if elections ...

TURKEY - In Brief 21 Dec 2021 3 responses

The Ministry of Treasury and Finance released a one-pager today (link here; in Turkish) providing a bit more detail on the planned F/X-indexation scheme. As we wrote yesterday, and it is now widely available in open media sources, the scheme aims to protect TL deposits against exchange rate-drive...

RUSSIA ECONOMICS - In Brief 21 Dec 2021

Central Bank of Russia reported that the total credit to households grew by a mere 0.9% m-o-m in November, having decelerated sharply from 1.6% m-o-m in October and average monthly 2.0% seen in 2Q21 and 3Q21. At the same time, household deposits in November increased by 1.7% m-o-m, having fallen ...

PHILIPPINES - In Brief 21 Dec 2021

Although central banks around the world pursued similar strategies of pouring monies into their economies in the wake of the pandemic, it is clear from their divergent moves this year that there is no one-size-fits-all exit strategy. With the most-watched central bank, the US Fed, signaling readi...

RUSSIA ENERGY / FINANCE - Report 20 Dec 2021

The current European energy crisis and huge market volatility are early indicators of imbalances in an accelerated energy transition scenario. The strategy of massive closure of nuclear and coal generation in Europe has led to an increase in the fragility of the entire energy system. The critica...

MEXICO - Report 20 Dec 2021

Mexico is experiencing several economic and political negative effects as a result of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s failed policies. Yet the two main opposition parties, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the National Action Party (PAN) are bogged down in multifaceted crise...

MEXICO - Report 20 Dec 2021

In the last issue for 2021, in place of our usual monthly review we are providing an overview of the most significant features of the economic outlook for 2022 as it currently stands Despite the extent to which the Mexican economy rebounded in late 2020 and the first half of the current year, we...

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 20 Dec 2021

On December 19 the Moldovan government expressed its protest at the decision. Transdnistira effectively seceded from Moldova in 1991, and the Russian Army is there. Moscow says its troops are peacekeepers. Transdnistria is a Russian-speaking region of Moldova. The rest of Moldova is mostly Romani...

RUSSIA ECONOMICS - Report 20 Dec 2021

On December 17, the Central Bank of Russia raised its key rate by 100 bps to 8.5% and mentioned that a further rate hike could be possible in mid-February if inflation expectations remain high and inflation itself stays elevated. The regulator one more time referred to its previous views suggesti...