Brazil: another minister bites the dust
President Dilma Rousseff lost her second minister in less than a month to a corruption scandal on Wednesday.
Senator Alfredo Nascimento (pictured left), transport minister, “left the government … to cooperate with efforts to fully clarify suspicions surrounding the operation of the Transport Ministry”, the government said in a statement. Continue reading »
Falklands: oil for UK group, none for Argentina’s YPF
Bad timing. Just days after Britain’s Rockhopper Exploration announced it was in talks with banks to start lining up financing to develop the only oil strike to date around the Falklands, Argentina’s YPF said its first well in a nearby area was dry. Continue reading »
A simple idea to help save Egypt
A group of Egyptian expatriates who met online are behind a new initiative to support the economy of their home country, damaged by the political turmoil following the revolution which toppled Hosni Mubarak, the former president.
The idea behind the T6T scheme is simple according to Ahmed al-Daly, a software developer in Canada and one of the people who devised it. Continue reading »
Polish privatisation: looking up
Today’s successful IPO of JSW, a Polish coking coal miner, may open the way for the much larger and complex possible privatisations of the country’s two remaining coal companies – Katowicki Holding Weglowy and Kompania Weglowa, says Aleksander Grad, the treasury minister (pictured).
Speaking to the Financial Times, a pleased-looking Grad said: “JSW’s IPO has broken some of the myths in this sector”, namely showing that coal mining is ruled by economics not by political connections, that coal is potentially interesting for investors, and that the treasury ministry does not have to be the sole owner of such companies. Continue reading »
Hedge funds in Mena: bigger than thought
As much as $10bn was invested in hedge funds focused on the Middle East and north Africa before the 2008 financial crash, says a report by Hedgefund.net, a US-based research house.
The downturn caused a dramatic outflow as investors took fright. Assets under management reached a low of under $4bn in the first quarter of 2009 and are now only slightly greater. Yet $4bn is much more than most estimates of hedge fund assets in the region. Continue reading »
Ukraine, wary of Russia, seeks energy independence with $1.5bn gas plant
Ukraine on Wednesday made a serious move towards cutting its energy dependence on Russia by formally inviting potential investors to prepare studies on building the country’s first LNG (liquefied natural gas) plant.
Located on the Black Sea, it would be a gateway for gas from the Black Sea region and beyond. But, as with many projects in Ukraine, the path from announcement to completion may be long and complicated. Continue reading »
[Snap] S Korea gets Winter Olympics
The South Korean city of Pyeongchang has been chosen by the International Olympic Committee to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. Pyeongchang defeated its rivals Annecy of France and Munich of Germany in a vote on Wednesday.
“I believe Pyeongchang winning the bid will also help accelerate establishing peace on the Korean peninsula,” President Lee Myung Bak said before the vote. Continue reading »
Guest Post: Brazil – no credit bubble, but an overstretched consumer nonetheless
By Tony Volpon of Nomura Securities
Is Brazil facing a credit bubble? With credit to GDP rapidly rising (from around 25 per cent in 2005 to 47 per cent now) in an environment of rapid demand growth and massive capital inflows, investors are right to worry. But looking both at the data and the unique characteristics of Brazil’s credit market, we see no credit bubble – though we do see an overstretched consumer and under-appreciated downside risks to future economic growth. Continue reading »
SSCP sells coating business as leaders consolidate
By Hyongki Park of mergermarket
The global coatings industry has recently seen a wave of M&A among leaders such as PPG, DuPont and AkzoNobel as they seek to consolidate their positions, especially in Asian markets which are expected to drive growth.
Partly because of this competition, SSCP has made a strategic decision to exit the business rather than play among the big guys. The listed coatings and IT materials manufacturing company is partially exiting its Korean coatings unit and selling the whole of its Hong Kong business. Continue reading »
China: another small turn of the screw
China’s latest 25 bps interest rates hike on Wednesday may mark the end of the cycle, after five increases in succession. But it may not – everything depends on inflation, which is may soon start to slow but hasn’t yet.
Premier Wen Jiabao has made clear that fighing inflation is “the priority of macro-economic regulation”. With recent protests around the country, he won’t need any reminding of the central role inflation often plays in stirring social unrest. Continue reading »
30 heads of state in a dust bowl
When South Sudan becomes the world’s newest country on Saturday, in a long-wrought split from the Khartoum government in the north, it is going to be uncomfortable in more ways than one.
Speedy tarmac laying, assiduous sweeping and practice rallies cannot disguise the fact that the capital, Juba, remains a dusty town with container crate sand tents for hotel rooms and dirt roads for thoroughfares, heavy with armed soldiers. Continue reading »
Film diplomacy: improving China-Taiwan relations one slapstick gag at a time
China and Taiwan may be separated by just a narrow body of water but, like many other aspects of the cross-Strait relationship, the two film markets have remained largely separate from each other.
That is now changing with Night Market Hero, the first Taiwanese film to be allowed to enter the Chinese market under a broad trade deal signed last year. Continue reading »
China debt: Moody’s flying guess
The most surprising thing about this week’s Moody’s report on Chinese debt is not the number that its analysts produced, but rather the process by which they arrived at their estimate.
To recap, Moody’s said on Tuesday that China’s national audit office may have understated the debt load of local governments by Rmb3,500bn and that 50-75 percent of this could end up in default. The stark warning has weighed on Chinese bank shares for two straight days. Continue reading »
India: the foreign debt express
State-run Indian Railways has joined the swelling ranks of Indian borrowers turning to international markets in response to rising interest rates at home.
Despite a lull in the past month, overseas issues by Indian names have tripled this year to around $7.8bn, according to Bloomberg, amid a succession of domestic interest rate hikes. And despite the growth of India’s capital markets, the scale of Indian borrowers’ credit needs means they’re likely to keep borrowing abroad for a long time to come. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* China raises rates 25bps
*Currency wars not over, says Brazil
* India’s Mukesh Ambani looking at sale of gas pipeline business
* Canada to review emerging market-focused listings
* Temasek selling China bank stakes
* India’s IT industry on recruitment spree
* Larsen & Toubro to double overseas orders on Gulf construction
* Godrej calls off JV with US based Hershey’s
* Netflix sets Latin American expansion
* Arden looks to India for opportunities
* Markets, mixed Continue reading »
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