Mexico: ‘I told you so’ at Pemex
There are red faces all round at Pemex, the Mexican state oil company, over its role in what appears to have been a failed boardroom coup at Spain-based Repsol.
Or at least, so it seems. Mexico’s “I told you so” brigade have been in full hue and cry since this week’s collapse of the alliance between Pemex and the Spanish construction company Sacyr Vallehermoso. Continue reading »
Kazakh president sacks son-in-law after deadly clashes
It was to be expected that some fat cats would lose their jobs in Kazakhstan following deadly clashes between police and oil workers in the oil-rich region of Mangistau last week
However, no one thought for one minute that Nursultan Nazarbayev would point the finger of blame at his powerful billionaire son-in-law for the worst unrest in the Kazakhstan since Soviet times.
Visiting the crisis-hit Mangistau region today, the Kazakh president announced that Timur Kulibayev had lost his job at Samruk Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s $80bn sovereign wealth fund. “I am dismissing Timur Kulibayev who heads Samruk-Kazyna,” he said in remarks broadcast on state TV.
In Brazil, plenty of work to to do
Three hundred years ago they were forcing them to work on the fields in the blistering sun with little food. Now they’re building their football stadiums.
New data from Brazil’s labour ministry shows a huge surge in the number of Portuguese workers who are coming back to their former colony, desperately in search of jobs.
The number of two-year work visas given to Portuguese nationals more than tripled in the first nine months of this year from the same period in 2010, while authorisations for permanent visas surged 69 per cent. Continue reading »
Egypt: the unfinished revolution
Egypt is still struggling with the consequences of the uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak. The early hopes of the those who joined in the Arab Spring have not been fulfilled in a country wracked by political tensions and growing fears about its economic stability. Continue reading »
By James Lockhart-Smith
The risks of investment in the Ecuadorian mining sector will remain extremely high despite the signing of a deal this month between President Rafael Correa’s government and the Canadian mining company Kinross Gold.
The Fruta del Norte (FDN) deal has been hailed as a landmark in the development of Ecuador’s mining sector. But investors should recognise that the terms are extremely favourable to the state, which will see the agreement as a precedent in its efforts to increase its share of revenues from mining at the expense of mining companies. Continue reading »
Turkey: boiling on a low heat
Turkey’s central bank pronounced itself satisfied with its own policy on Thursday. But outside Ankara the logic behind the stance is sometimes seen as being of the Alice in Wonderland variety.
The policy – what the bank calls the “interest rate corridor” – has left analysts unclear as to what rates actually are and opens the way to scenarios where the benchmark rate could go up even as effective interest rates come down. Continue reading »
Ambani and Gates in energy tie-up
What are friends for? In the stratosphere of the business world, they are for investment, of course. As Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries (RIL) buys into a US nuclear technology design firm backed by Bill Gates, the two tycoons are reported to be taking their friendship to the next level. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* Europe opens higher after ECB loan offer
* Medvedev urges far-reaching political reforms
* China accuses US of protectionism
* Sonia Gandhi attacks India’s anti-graft crusader Continue reading »
Chinese stocks going cheap as year ends – for good reason?
Let’s think warm thoughts as families across China gather round their dinner tables to celebrate the winter solstice festival on Thursday evening and assume that China’s economy is in for a soft landing and will continue to grow at around 8 per cent next year, as the more bullish economists are forecasting.
Supposing they are right, would you put your money into shares of Chinese companies? Continue reading »
Further reading: Christmas tree lights and Gorbachev’s legacy
Thursday’s selection from the beyondbrics team: China’s role in the current slump in shipping charges – bad for shipping lines, good for trade; what we can learn about Russian democracy from the 20 years since Gorbachev’s Christmas Day resignation; how fund managers fared in 2011; and the Chinese town recycling Christmas tree lights. Continue reading »
EM fund managers of 2011: Arab spring
By Lina Saigol
After coming top among emerging market equity fund managers in 2011, executives at Tunisian financial services company MAC be forgiven a little boast. Their shariah-complaint MAC al Houda beat the world’s best in 2011 – and they expect another good result in 2012.
“The fund is expected to perform well next year also, given the expected recovery of the Tunisian economy,” says Salma Zammit, one of MAC’s senior investment analysts. With the new government aiming to modernise Tunisia and create in Tunis a hub for Islamic finance, it could be a matter of being in the right place at the right time for MAC. Continue reading »
Hungary: junked again
If one credit rating agency cuts you to junk, you can argue with the credit rating agency. But when a second does the same, you really need to look to yourself for an explanation.
In Hungary’s case, it’s not hard to find. S&P signalled last month that it was considering downgrading Budapest – and gave itself until February to decide. In the event it didn’t need nearly that long. On Wednesday it followed Moody’s in cutting Hungary to junk. It can’t be long before Fitch follows suit. Continue reading »
Taiwan: chip makers feel the heat
Talks of consolidation are rife again in the struggling D-Ram memory chip industry, but there seems little prospect for a tie-up between the biggest industry players in Japan and Taiwan.
Wu Chia-chau, chairman of Nanya Technology, Taiwan’s biggest D-Ram maker, on Thursday dismissed a Nikkei business article that said his company and Japan’s Elpida were considering a possible merger. That’s a pity because the industry needs to slim to get into better shape. Continue reading »
India: at last, food prices ease
A bit of good news for the hard-pressed Indian government – and for all Indians. Food inflation eased sharply to 1.81 per cent in the year to December 10, from an annual 4.35 per cent rise in the previous week, government figures showed on Thursday.
It’s only one week’s numbers, but analysts say that the trend in food prices, a big issue for India’s many poor people and a significant component in headline inflation, is now firmly down. That will make it easier for the central bank to reverse its monetary policy and start cutting rates in response to decelerating economic growth. Continue reading »
Gloucester Coal: in time for Christmas?
China’s Yancoal seems ready to get its estimated A$2bn takeover bid for Australia’s Gloucester Coal in before Christmas. Trading in Gloucester was suspended on Thursday as the boards of both companies were reportedly due to meet later in the day or on Friday.
Gloucester said in a public statement seeking the suspension of its shares that it was not yet in a position to make an announcement. But investors expect that it soon will be. Continue reading »
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