Putin continues to court Venezuela
It’s not hard to see why Vladimir Putin saw fit to take precious time out today in the aftermath of Russia’s controversial parliamentary elections last Sunday to meet with Venezuela’s vice-president, Elias Jaua.
Much to the discomfort of Washington, the two countries are developing an ever cosier bilateral relationship and Russia’s state-run oil giant Rosneft announced a $2.6bn deal today to develop Venezuela’s extra-heavy crude oil reserves in the Orinoco. Continue reading »
Brazil: more ministers walk the plank
Brazil’s seemingly endless corruption sweep has two more ministers in its sights – the minister of cities, Mario Negromonte, and more significantly, minister of trade and industry, Fernando Pimentel.
You will recall, President Dilma Rousseff has already sacked seven ministers in less than 12 months in office, six of them following allegations of corruption or questionable ethics. Continue reading »
CEE: in the firing line (again)
Mario Draghi’s comments on Thursday have knocked the wind out of the sails of a modest rally in CEE currencies. Speaking at a press conference, the European Central Bank president first buoyed markets with a 25-basis-point interest rate cut and then dashed confidence by revealing that the decision hadn’t been unanimous.
First-hand evidence of doubt and division at the ECB undermined hopes that European Union leaders meeting in Brussels will be able to hammer out an effective deal to support the eurozone and its banks. With the euro tumbling, the zloty, forint and Czech crown had nowhere to hide. Continue reading »
S Africa: global slowdown hits home
Another day, another sign of the baleful global impact of the eurozone crisis. This time it’s the turn of South Africa where year-on-year manufacturing growth in October came in at just 1 per cent, down from 8 per cent in September.
Export-orientated industries slumped in the face of the slowdown around the world, not least the eurozone which buys roughly a third of South Africa’s manufactured goods. Continue reading »
Russia: state television vs internet
There was almost no mention on Russian state television of the events of Tuesday night when black-helmeted riot police swooped on opposition activists in a central Moscow square carting off hundreds of protestors to detention centers.
But the official broadcasters found plenty of time for reports of the pro-government rallies taking place at the same time – and for news on Angelina Jolie swanning around Manhattan to promote her debut as a film director. Continue reading »
India may welcome Qualcomm after all
Foreign direct investment in Indian retail may be dead, but Asia’s third-largest economy may be about to prove, again, that FDI in the country remains possible (see the case of Mickey Mouse), at least to those who wait.
Next week – more than 18 months after it initially bid for broadband wireless spectrum on the subcontinent – US mobile phone chipmaker Qualcomm may finally receive the license for which it paid $1bn. Continue reading »
Ankara riled by IMF
The relationship between Turkey and the International Monetary Fund, rarely smooth, has flared up once again, with Ankara rejecting the IMF’s prediction that economic growth will slow to just 2 per cent next year.
“The IMF will revise its growth forecast upwards,” said Zafer Caglayan, economy minister, on Thursday. He added that Turkey would stick to its own prediction of some 4 per cent growth for 2011. Continue reading »
Bill Gates to China: let’s go nuclear
When Bill Gates flew in to Beijing this week, there was an unusual item on his agenda: a meeting with China’s biggest nuclear group, CNNC, to discuss a technology known as the “travelling wave reactor.”
When Gates visited China last year he and Warren Buffett famously tried to co-host a dinner with wealthy Chinese entrepreneurs, with the theme of encouraging them to be involved in philanthropy. At the time many of those invited were reluctant to come for fear that they would be put on the spot and asked for donations. But on this trip, China’s nuclear industry seems to have given Gates a warmer reception. Continue reading »
Indian aviation: a bad day, for some
India’s two worst performing airlines found themselves in further trouble on Thursday when the government froze their bank accounts after they failed to deposit service tax payments, local media reported.
In a year that has seen Indian airlines plunged into a liquidity crisis even as passenger numbers grow at one of the fastest rates in the world, it was yet another bad day for debt-ridden private carrier Kingfisher Airlines and – even more debt-ridden but, lucky for it, government-owned – Air India. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* EU to stop aid to fast-growing countries
* Barclays withdraws from $1bn retail business in India
* New China Life kicks off wave of insurer listings
* BP talks peace deal with Russian partners Continue reading »
India: goodbye Walmart, hello Goofy
Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour may be barred from entering India, but Mickey, Minnie and Goofy have been given the all clear to increase their presence on the subcontinent.
In a week that saw FDI in retail die a quick, painful death, the government announced the approval of three large deals – proving that, perhaps, India wasn’t as closed off as the past few weeks of protests would suggest. Continue reading »
Further reading: lofty connections
Thursday’s top picks from the beyondbrics team: Lex on why it pays to know the Chinese Development Bank; the case of Gaddafi, a PhD and the LSE; the potential beginning of a ‘Russian Spring’; endemic bribery in Tunisia; and how China’s solar industry is weighed down by debt. Continue reading »
EM currencies: going cheap?
Every market correction presents a buying opportunity – so with the global slowdown taking hold, is now a good time to buy EM currencies?
Well, it depends which factors you look at and of course, which currencies. RBS has used several models and come up with some recommendations. The cheapest? Mexico’s peso. But Asian currencies are, in the main, the best value. Continue reading »
China’s 360buy to buy 300 trucks “out of frustration”
China may be the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce market but actually making any money has been a big problem for companies in the fiercely competitive sector.
360buy, the country’s second-largest online retail firm by transaction volume, has just made a shock move that promises to make that challenge even tougher: it plans big investments in transport to solve long-running logistics and delivery troubles. Continue reading »
[snap] Indonesia holds rates
Bank Indonesia left rates unchanged at 6 per cent at its December meeting on Thursday, as expected by the majority of economists polled by Bloomberg.
South Korea also chose not to move earlier in the day.
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