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Weekly Tracker: February 8-14
TURKEY · Report · 08 Feb 2015

Executive Summary President Erdogan says he is receiving death threats from alleged members of the Gulen Organization and we believe him. An assassination attempt will have disastrous consequences for Turkish politics and economic confidence since it will bring Turkey to war footing. According to...

Petrobras Scandal
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 05 Feb 2015

Creation of Petrobras CPI authorized The president of the House of Representatives, Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-RJ), has authorized the functioning of the Petrobras CPI (Investigative Parliamentary Committee). The request was read on the House floor. Now, party leaders have 48 hours to nominate members o...

CBT Independence: How much longer?
TURKEY · In Brief · 05 Feb 2015

I’m writing this brief to address FAQs after the recent barrage of criticism by Erdogan about CBT’s erroneous ways which reached the point of questioning the wisdom of its independence. To summarize the salient points of the debate, allow me to share this question by a reader, whose name I shall ...

Headwinds Kicking Up
MEXICO · Report · 04 Feb 2015

Executive Summary Mexico’s non-oil exports remained strong in 2014, according to the latest data, with private investment and consumption recovering faster, and public investment continuing to fall. In H2 the economy regained its “natural” growth rate, a trajectory it could sustain through 2015. ...

Petrobras Scandal
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 04 Feb 2015

Graça Foster leaves Petrobras and a new CPI is underway On Tuesday evening, February 3, President Dilma Rousseff met with then-President of Petrobras Graça Foster. Despite the secrecy surrounding the meeting, the topic of which was never divulged, everyone in Brasília knew what was coming, and th...

Inflation and MPC: Back to Square One
TURKEY · Report · 03 Feb 2015

January CPI inflation came in at 1.1%, which is higher than both consensus (0.7%) and our slightly higher forecast (0.8%). Most importantly, today’s print proved the overly optimistic expectations by Governor Basci unwarranted and, as announced by the Bank in the aftermath of the release, it rule...

Back To Square One
TURKEY · In Brief · 03 Feb 2015

January CPI inflation came in at 1.1%, which is higher than both consensus (0.7%) and our slightly higher forecast (0.8%). Most importantly, data proved the overly optimistic expectations by the CBRT wrong and, as has just been stated by the Bank on its website, eliminated the (by-now notorious) ...

Central bank abandons indicative exchange rate regime
UKRAINE · In Brief · 03 Feb 2015

The Central bank plans to cancel current exchange rate regime when ‘legal’ exchange rate is 'indicated' every day during auctions. The regime was introduced on November 5th 2014, after parliament elections when the authorities realized that they do not have money for large-scale FX interventions....

Economic Scenarios: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
ARGENTINA · Report · 02 Feb 2015

Executive Summary For the first time in decades, the electoral year and the political transition toward “a more rational administration” is helping to stabilize the economy. There is a broad consensus that any of the candidates who are leading the polls will make the necessary changes to improve ...

Week of February 2
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 02 Feb 2015

A politically intense week, with the end of the recess for the Legislative and Judiciary.The government will have to regroup the allied base after the election for presidents of the House and Senate.Dialogue with unions on the fiscal adjustment measures continues.President Dilma Rousseff and form...

COSTA RICA: Hello Managed Floating; Good Bye Currency Bands
CENTRAL AMERICA · Report · 02 Feb 2015

The Central Bank announced last Saturday the elimination of the currency band and the start of a new exchange rate regime characterized by a managed float. The new system, which has been the de facto regime over the past 12 months, implies the Central Bank´s active participation in the market to ...

The Size of the Fiscal Disaster in 2014
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 02 Feb 2015

Few observers had any doubts that the fiscal policy put into practice by former finance minister Mantega would leave a disastrous legacy. The publication of the numbers for 2014 last week allows assessing the problem’s magnitude. From January through December 2014, the central government had a pr...

Weekly Tracker: February 1-7
TURKEY · Report · 01 Feb 2015

Executive Summary President Erdogan launched a campaign for a new Constitution and Executive Presidency after the general elections.This means the stakes are very high going to the June 7th ballot. We dedicate a major portion of the politics section to the implications of Mr. Erdogan’s dreams of ...

Dominican Rep buys back the debt with Venezuela under Petrocaribe with a 52% discount
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · In Brief · 30 Jan 2015

After months of rumors, last night the Minister of Finance of the Dominican Republic announced that the government has bought back 98.5% of the total debt with PDVSA, the Venezuelan state owned oil company. The debt was contracted under Petrocaribe, a program which provides generous financing for...

Will China Save the Day?
VENEZUELA · Report · 30 Jan 2015

Executive Summary President Maduro signaled policy continuity in his annual address to the legislature last January 21. We see no signs that severe shortages and spiraling inflation will be tamed and remain as uncertain as we were last month regarding the probability of default. We project net ou...