Daily Archives: July 14, 2011

The Chávez risk premium

July 14, 2011 10:56 pm by Benedict Mander

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He launched into ectasies each time Venezuela’s football team scored a goal last night (remarkably, they scored three), he quoted Nietzsche, he bid his compatriots a rather poetic good morning, he even announced humdrum government business – all in the last 24 hours.

As if to compensate for a fairly dramatic reduction of airtime on Venezuelans’ television screens due to his battle against cancer, the garrulous Hugo Chávez is taking ever more to expressing himself through his Twitter account. Continue reading »

Tags: Hugo Chávez, Venezuela politics Posted in Venezuela | Permalink

India’s latest call-centre…in Manchester

July 14, 2011 6:57 pm by beyondbrics

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By Andrew Bounds

How should Indian companies react as increasing numbers of UK companies repatriate their call-centres, unwinding a decade-long trend of offshoring?

Aegis, one of India’s leaders in the sector, has decided to join in. The company, part of the Essar Group conglomerate, is entering the British market – and creating 600 jobs in Manchester. Continue reading »

Tags: call centres Posted in India | Permalink

Argentina: beggaring our neighbours

July 14, 2011 6:37 pm by Jude Webber

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Argentina has run into trouble before with trade tactics that often seem like knee-jerk reactions to events rather than a coherent policies.

The result is a growing reputation for protectionism, which is earning it few friends and making many enemies. Continue reading »

Tags: exports, imports Posted in Argentina | Permalink

Russia: profits from road-building?

July 14, 2011 6:10 pm by Ivana Kottasová

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Until now, the sole Russia-only emerging market infrastructure fund has been limited to the investors who bought into it in the first place, four years ago.

But on Thursday Renaissance Asset Managers (RAM) announced launching the closed-ended $188m Renaissance Russia Infrastructure Equities Fund on the London Stock Exchange. Continue reading »

Tags: infrastructure Posted in Russia | Permalink

Brazilian retail: what was BNDES up to?

July 14, 2011 5:37 pm by Stefan Wagstyl

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The failure of Carrefour and Pão de Açúcar to join up in Brazil has raised questions about the role of the BNDES, the government development bank that initially said it would back the deal to the tune of €1.7bn.

Should a government entity have been involved in what many see as a war of personal interests? Here is Joe Leahy’s take from Thursday’s FT. Continue reading »

Tags: banking, retail Posted in Brazil | Permalink

Need for power will trump rhetoric

July 14, 2011 4:21 pm by beyondbrics

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By Tim Gosling of business new europe

The election cycle has thrown up deep uncertainty over Russia’s utilities sector. But investors and analysts argue that a recent sell-off in the sector is no more than a temporary blip, and long-term prospects remain bright. Continue reading »

Tags: energy, investment Posted in Europe, Russia | Permalink

Guest post: CEE lessons for Greece

July 14, 2011 3:40 pm by beyondbrics

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By Christian Keller, head of emerging Europe research, Barclays Capital

An overly indebted, uncompetitive economy, after years of soaring labour costs, growing current account deficits, and with seemingly no export products to sell. A banking system at the brink of runs and a sovereign in need of a massive IMF-EU bail out. Default and devaluation seem the only way out. Greece today? No, Latvia in early 2009. Continue reading »

Tags: debt, guest post, IMF Posted in Europe, Global | Permalink

Russia: Medvedev privatisation plan evokes shades of Boris Yeltsin

July 14, 2011 2:47 pm by Charles Clover

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Is president Dmitry Medvedev using privatization to get a second term as president?

If so, he would not be the first Russian president to use that gambit to energize a re-election campaign. In 1996, Boris Yeltsin, with a 3 per cent approval rating, was seen as unlikely to win against communist challenger Gennady Zyuganov. But Yeltsin’s campaign manager, Anatoly Chubais, came up with a brilliant strategy to assure victory – sell off mountains of state property in the infamous “loans for shares” programme, creating a new class of property owners who would stand to lose everything if Yeltsin lost, and thus threw their resources behind the president and secured victory. Continue reading »

Tags: privatisation, Russian politics Posted in Russia | Permalink

Indian inflation: edging closer to 10%

July 14, 2011 1:50 pm by Stefan Wagstyl

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Indian prices are still rising far too fast for comfort, making another early rate hike likely – probably as soon as this month.

The wholesale price inflation number for June – published on Thursday – came in slightly below forecasts at 9.4 per cent, compared to predictions averaging 9.7 per cent. But it was accompanied with a whopping revision of the April figure from 8.7 per cent to 9.7 per cent – prompting fears that the June number could also be revised – and breach the politically-sensitive 10 per cent mark. Continue reading »

Tags: inflation, monetary policy Posted in India | Permalink

Turkey’s not so beautiful game

July 14, 2011 1:13 pm by David O'Byrne

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Having endured a bitterly fought general election on June 12, Turks could be forgiven for hoping they were in for a quiet summer.

But far from it – Turkish football has been rocked by allegations of match fixing by the country’s top clubs. In a football-mad country that matters to fans and business people alike. Continue reading »

Tags: sports Posted in Turkey | Permalink

The Balkans look good…from Istanbul

July 14, 2011 12:19 pm by Neil MacDonald

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Opportunity is in the eye of the beholder. The global investors who never spare a thought for the Balkans are going to miss out on some great money-making prospects, says Philip Khoury, am Istanbul-based “frontier” market specialist.

Khoury, managing director at boutique asset manager Impera Capital has – by his own admission – not set foot in either Serbia or Montenegro for 22 years, since a youthful bicycle tour just before the Yugoslav wars. Yet he flags up both countries, among other neglected Eurasian emerging markets in his latest newsletter. Continue reading »

Tags: fund management Posted in Europe, Serbia | Permalink

New York headlines

July 14, 2011 11:57 am by beyondbrics

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* Triple bomb attack kills 18 in Mumbai

* Indian police focus on homegrown terror

* Banks reap profits from M&A deals in emerging markets

* China may sustain 9% growth on inland shift

* Burma’s seaside retreat set for industrial boom

* ONGC share sale to take place in September

* Brasil Foods gets go-ahead to merge with rival

* Chinese help counter US weakness for Yum

* South Africa strikes begin to bite

* Allahabad Bank to take MTN route to raise $500m for Hong Kong business

* Markets, mixed Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

China: the taxman boometh

July 14, 2011 11:03 am by Josh Noble

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China is a country where statistics tend to be coupled with exciting adjectives. Rampant inflation, up 6.5 per cent in June. Blistering economic growth 9.5 per cent in Q2. Scorching industrial production, up 15.5 per cent last month.

But how’s this for a growth figure – China’s fiscal revenues grew over 31 per cent in the first half of 2011, bringing in over Rmb5,000bn to state coffers. Continue reading »

Tags: economy, GDP, tax Posted in China | Permalink

Phosagro’s relative success; should others follow?

July 14, 2011 10:07 am by Alexandra Stevenson

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It has not been a good year for Russian companies looking to float overseas. Just half of those who have tried have actually made it to market this year, so some might count Phosagro, which made its debut in London on Wednesday, as a success. But it was hardly a triumph: even though the sale price had been lowered, the shares traded mainly flat.

Nevertheless, with increasing nervousness over Russian corporate governance set against a backdrop of a looming debt crises in the eurozone and the prospect of a credit rating downgrade for the US, some might wonder how Phosagro managed to pull off its London listing at all. Continue reading »

Tags: equities, IPOs Posted in Europe, Russia | Permalink

beyondbrics

Daily Archives: July 14, 2011

The Chávez risk premium

India’s latest call-centre…in Manchester

Argentina: beggaring our neighbours

Russia: profits from road-building?

Brazilian retail: what was BNDES up to?

Need for power will trump rhetoric

Guest post: CEE lessons for Greece

Russia: Medvedev privatisation plan evokes shades of Boris Yeltsin

Indian inflation: edging closer to 10%

Turkey’s not so beautiful game

The Balkans look good…from Istanbul

New York headlines

China: the taxman boometh

Phosagro’s relative success; should others follow?

Further reading: is Jiang Zemin back?

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