NEWS FLASH

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Reelections loom on the horizon
TURKEY · In Brief · 13 Aug 2015

Today’s summit between AKP leader Davutoglu and CHP’s Kilicdaroglu failed to produce a break-through, with both leaders declaring that Turkey is probably heading for reelections. We now assign 90% probability to a reelection before the turn of the year, possibly on 22th of November. Yet, as Kilic...

FX Watch
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 13 Aug 2015

China's attempt to pursue a more market-based exchange rate has seen other Asian currencies depreciating alongside it. The impact on the peso has been relatively smaller compared with other neighboring currencies, reflecting robust external accounts. But at a time when exports across the region a...

The PBoC’s currency reform
CHINA FINANCIAL · Report · 12 Aug 2015

On Tuesday the PBoC devalued the RMB by 1.86%, its biggest devaluation since 1994. It also announced a deregulation of the currency regime that will allow the PBoC significantly to reduce intervention. I expect that the PBoC will have to choose between intervening to nearly the same exte...

Economics: Middle Class Sustains Consumption
MEXICO · Report · 12 Aug 2015

Many media outlets have dedicated considerable attention in recent weeks to indicators of Mexico’s middle class in Mexico as part of the broader discussion of recent data confirming a considerable rise in poverty. Based on the information published by the National Council for the Evaluation of...

Politics: Key Preliminaries Ahead of 2018 Race
MEXICO · Report · 12 Aug 2015

The 2018 campaign is now underway. The country’s three main parties are electing new leaderships with an eye toward the next presidential elections. By mid late last week it became obvious that Manlio Fabio Beltrones would face no opposition in his bid to become the next chairman of the govern...

Question Marks Are Growing
HUNGARY · Report · 12 Aug 2015

Moving closer to the end of 2015, an increasingly intriguing question is how the authorities will handle the combination of decelerating output growth, weak domestic investment, rising inflation, the imminent decrease of development grants from the EU and the continued inactivity seen at domestic...

Expecting a Growth Rebound
CHINA · Forecast · 12 Aug 2015

Though growth is still low, we expect it to pick up in H2, driven by several positive factors. GDP grew 7% y/y in Q2, flat on Q1. The GDP deflator grew 2.54% y/y in Q2, up 1.12 pps from Q1. Although prices are picking up, and are slightly higher, both domestically and compared with other devel...

​Coalition alert: Turkey heading for early elections
TURKEY · In Brief · 12 Aug 2015 · 3 responses

Turkey’s secularist bastion Cumhuriyet daily newspaper claimed that CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu told delegates from left-wing labor unions that Erdogan has sabotaged the coalition talks and the break-down may be announced as soon as Thursday. I’m linking the Turkish news item here. While the Tu...

Accusations Fly in as Elections Near
PERU · Report · 11 Aug 2015

President Ollanta Humala’s confrontational attitude toward the opposition has compounded his party’s problems, after it lost its congressional majority. The uncovering of wrongdoing related to campaign financing and favoritism in the awarding of contracts to individuals and firms linked to the pr...

​Reconstructing the Davutoglu-Kilicdaroglu summit
TURKEY · In Brief · 10 Aug 2015

After 8 days in the remote Aegean island of Imroz (Gokceada), which I highly recommend to those wishing to become monks or goat herders, I'm back in action and begin work by sharing with my Asian and early-bird European readers my first theories about the background of the 4.5 hour long Davutoglu...

A first victory of Scioli, but not yet enough to ensure Presidency
ARGENTINA · In Brief · 10 Aug 2015

With close to 95% of total votes counted, the results of yesterday’s primary elections are clear and not too different from what the polls hinted in the previous weeks. Scioli emerged as the “winner” but not necessarily strong enough to ensure a first round victory in the October elections, depen...

Week of August 10
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 10 Aug 2015

The weeks begins with considerable interests in the protests scheduled for next Sunday.President Dilma Rousseff, in an effort to impose a positive agenda, launches the Electric Energy Investments Plan (PIEE).Minister Joaquim Levy may present a set of measures to stimulate the economy to senators.

Political Crisis, Increased Risk and Official Reactions
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 10 Aug 2015

In recent weeks, Brazil’s CDS quotations have risen steeply. This movement has been prompted not only be the loosening of fiscal policy, reflected in the new primary surplus targets, which has raised the likelihood the country will lose its investment grade rating, but also by the worsening polit...

Global Opposition with no Opposition at Home
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 07 Aug 2015

Hosting a BRICS summit and a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Operation allowed Russia to present both organizations as an alternative to the Western-led international institutions. Although other summit participants were reluctant to support Russia’s anti-Western rhetoric, the meetings demonst...

External Headwinds
PHILIPPINES · Forecast · 07 Aug 2015

External risks have increased since our last report.Our outlook, which sees GDP growth at 6.1% in 2015 and 6.5% in 2016, is one of guarded optimism that considers robust domestic demand growth alongside softer export demand, increasing foreign investor caution, more volatile global financial mark...