NEWS FLASH

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Week of February 13
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 13 Feb 2017

President Michel Temer may announce the new appointee to the Ministry of Justice, replacing Alexandre Moraes, who was appointed to the STF. The Special Committees on Pension and Labor Reform will discuss work schedules. The agenda in the Lower House contains the bill that reopens the deadline for...

A Tough Row to Hoe
PERU · Forecast · 13 Feb 2017

We’ve revised our growth forecasts downward to 3.6% for 2017 and 3.8% for 2018- 2019. Albeit less rosy than official forecasts, our outlook for the Peruvian economy remains upbeat. The government is striving to speed along previously delayed PPP projects, while cutting red tape for investment,...

The Labor Market: Opposite Signs
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 13 Feb 2017

It is known that the labor market is one of the last to recover after the end of a recession. Therefore, the unemployment rate should continue to rise in the coming quarters, but some positive signs have started to appear. At the same time the jobless rate continues to climb steeply, wages have s...

Stable 2017 Expected, Despite Global Uncertainties
CHINA · Forecast · 12 Feb 2017

Given China’s strong fiscal condition, we expect the country to enjoy stable growth in 2017, global uncertainties notwithstanding. GDP rose 6.7% y/y in 2016, down 0.2 pps from 2015, and admittedly the lowest recent yearly rise. Fixed asset investment was up 8.1%, down 1.9 pps from 2015. After the...

All Eyes on the Referendum
TURKEY · Forecast · 12 Feb 2017

Economy remains weak and the political atmosphere toxic, which makes the road to the presidential referendum, scheduled for April 16th, crucial as well as rocky. If AKP loses the referendum, Turkey could enter an existential crisis. If it wins, which is our base-case scenario for now, it gets a l...

Moreno and Lasso Probably Disputing the Presidency
ECUADOR · In Brief · 10 Feb 2017

According to the Electoral Law, February 8th was the last day to publish presidential polls results before the elections on February 19th. These last publications are not much different from the ones provided back in January 24th. Around 30% of Ecuadorians still have not yet decided whom they wil...

Economics: NAFTA Renegotiation Scenarios
MEXICO · Report · 10 Feb 2017

Three weeks have passed since Donald Trump assumed the office of president of the United States, and Mexico’s productive sector remains gripped by uncertainty as to the repercussions of potential changes to United States trade policy. With a zealous commitment to implementing a poorly conceive...

President Zuma’s 2017 State of Nation Address: Not Much Inspiration, and Much Humiliation, Insults, Pepper Gas and Eviction
SOUTH AFRICA · In Brief · 09 Feb 2017

President Zuma’s State of Nation Addresses (SONA) 2017 was a lot more dramatic than his 2016. His speech was delayed by an hour due to melodramatic, eventful, violent and humiliating display of political theatrics. Armed with last year’s Constitutional Court’s judgement that President Zuma had vi...

Monetary Policy for 2017
INDIA · Report · 09 Feb 2017

Inflation has declined, and the outlook for inflation is soft. Demonetization is likely to have induced a slowdown in the economy, which will feed back into soft inflation. We expect weak output growth in calendar year 2017 across a variety of output measures. In order to achieve the inflation ta...

Politics: State of Mexico Contests Key for 2018
MEXICO · Report · 09 Feb 2017

Voters will elect new governors in Coahuila, Nayarit and the State of Mexico and choose new municipal presidents in Veracruz in June. All four contests serve as early indicators of how electoral preferences are shaping up in relation to the three parties currently enjoying the strongest polling r...

GDP surges 4.5-4.8% in 4Q16, officials say
UKRAINE · In Brief · 09 Feb 2017

GDP surged 4.5-4.8% y/y in 4Q16 the Head of State Statistics Service Igor Verner reported at the Cabinet meeting yesterday. This means that in 2016 GDP increased 2.2% y/y which is much above our estimates (we projected 1.4% y/y). If the estimate proves to be correct it’s definitely good news. At ...

​Monetary policy stance changed to neutral
INDIA · In Brief · 09 Feb 2017

The Monetary Policy Committee took yet another unanimous decision on policy rates. This time, in its third meeting, the unanimous decision was to keep the policy rate unchanged, and to change the stance of monetary policy from “accommodative” to “neutral”. It is difficult to understand how a deci...

Fresh data, old themes
HUNGARY · In Brief · 08 Feb 2017

Two new pieces of statistics, one on the government budget and one on industrial output, seem to reinforce the old trend: robust performance on financial equilibrium, combined with a weak showing on economic growth.1. The good news is about the January cash balance of the central government, whic...

Escalation in Donbas - But Notable Reforms and Economic Growth
UKRAINE · Report · 07 Feb 2017

The situation in eastern Ukraine deteriorated in late January, with volunteer squads beginning a trade blockade against the occupied territories. This move was supported by ordinary Ukrainians, who are increasingly unhappy over rising utility rates. Ukraine still imports coal from the occupied te...

Finance Minister speaks: land reform, potential Eurobonds and accusations against the chief tax collector
UKRAINE · In Brief · 07 Feb 2017

Yesterday, on Feb. 6th, Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk gathered journalists for a meeting and shared with public few interesting points. Firstly, he stated that the law on agri-land circulation will be submitted to the parliament by the end of May. It was agreed with the IMF. Previously, the...