Daily Archives: Jan 24, 2012

Argentina to Greek investors: sometimes it pays to take a haircut

Jan 24, 2012 10:10pm by Jude Webber

Share this on

When countries crash, does it pay to sue? It’s a timely question, with Greece still poised in the balance. Experience in Argentina suggests that accepting – even with a brutal haircut – may end up being more in the money in the long run.

As this Bloomberg story shows, creditors who accepted Argentina’s first debt swap in 2005, four years after its default on nearly $100bn of sovereign debt, and kept their swapped bonds ever since have enjoyed returns of 90 per cent – outpacing a 70-per cent return on emerging-market bonds overall. That’s a sweet recompense for having accepted just 30 cents on the dollar for their investments. Continue reading »

Tags: bonds, default, Greek debt crisis Posted in Argentina, LatAm | Permalink

10 things about EMs from the IMF

Jan 24, 2012 6:55pm by Rob Minto

Share this on

The IMF World Economic Outlook update released on Tuesday makes pretty ugly reading, as Chris Giles reports in the FT, with world economic growth set to be significantly weaker than previously thought.

But what specifically does it mean for emerging markets? Here are 10 things we have learnt from the IMF report. Continue reading »

Tags: exports, GDP, global economy, IMF, imports, inflation Posted in Global | Permalink

Egypt lifts emergency laws… sort of

Jan 24, 2012 6:04pm by Keyur Patel

Share this on

Egypt’s emergency laws will be partially lifted from Wednesday, the first anniversary of the start of the country’s uprisings against former President Hosni Mubarak.

But Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of Egypt’s ruling military council, added that exceptions would be retained for “incidents of thuggery,” without elaborating further. Continue reading »

Tags: equities, law Posted in Egypt | Permalink

Africa: no longer a leap of faith

Jan 24, 2012 5:16pm by Keyur Patel

Share this on

Even before the financial crisis caused havoc in most of the developed world, investors have long talked up Africa’s potential for growth.

Now, finds a survey by the Abu Dhabi Government, they’re set to follow with their wallets. Of 158 institutional investors, more than half believe Africa will be the most attractive region for investment growth in the next decade. What’s more, all respondents expect to have some exposure to the continent by 2016. Continue reading »

Tags: investment Posted in Africa | Permalink

Hungary: taking Orbán at his word

Jan 24, 2012 4:08pm by Rob Minto

Share this on

Who do you trust? If you are Hungary’s central bank, the answer is: Viktor Orbán. The bank kept interest rates at 7 per cent on Tuesday, surprising analysts who had anticipated a half-percentage point hike and causing a brief fall in the forint. But the bank is placing its faith in the prime minister doing the right thing in the eyes of the EU.

Meanwhile the man himself was in Brussels to meet EU top brass – apparently conceding ground over key legislation that might otherwise block a deal with the IMF, particularly over the independence of the central bank. It’s a bit of a gamble all round. Continue reading »

Tags: central banks, IMF, interest rates, Orban Posted in Europe, Hungary | Permalink

Abu Dhabi will get its Guggenheim…

Jan 24, 2012 2:35pm by Tom Gara

Share this on

… and its Louvre, and a Cleveland Clinic and a vast new 700,000 sq m airport terminal, among other things.

After more than a year of uncertainty, an all-powerful government review led by Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed, a senior member of the ruling family, has given the green light for the billions of dollars worth of flagship projects whose announcement brought global attention to the emirate. Continue reading »

Tags: investment, luxury Posted in MidEast, United Arab Emirates | Permalink

Colombia’s Grupo Aval gets belated praise for expansion; more to come?

Jan 24, 2012 1:31pm by Naomi Mapstone

Share this on

photo: Bloomberg

When Grupo Aval, Colombia’s biggest banking group, said in July 2010 it was buying BAC-Credomatic, Central America’s leading credit card issuer for $1.9bn, Moody’s winced. It put Banco de Bogotá, Grupo Aval’s principal asset, on notice of a possible downgrade.

But a year after the deal was completed, the ratings agency has changed its tune. Continue reading »

Tags: banking Posted in Colombia, LatAm | Permalink

New York headlines

Jan 24, 2012 11:59am by beyondbrics

Share this on

* Abu Dhabi approves major spending plan

* India’s central bank warns on ‘fiscal slippage’

* EU eases Myanmar sanctions after political prisoners freed

* IMF chief warns Europe must fuel growth Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

Private equity: China looks cheap

Jan 24, 2012 11:46am by Henny Sender

Share this on

The Hong Kong and Chinese stock markets are on holiday this week. But despite an overall good start to 2012, the shares of Chinese firms including former high-fliers have been so depressed that they have become the hunting grounds for private equity firms with cash in their coffers. Continue reading »

Tags: equities, foreign investment, private equity Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

Unilever Indonesia: ever upwards?

Jan 24, 2012 10:46am by Jonathan Wheatley

Share this on

It’s a slow week on Asian stock exchanges with many markets closed for the Chinese New Year, so you’d expect some wild price movements on the few exchanges trading in low liquidity. Unilever Indonesia is a case in point: its shares soared by nearly 20 per cent in early trading on Tuesday before falling back to a more modest gain of about 5 per cent.

Even so, that’s not a bad profit for one day. And it brings the stock’s gain to a stellar 43 per cent from its most recent low in mid September. What is driving Unilever upwards? Continue reading »

Tags: consumption, middle class Posted in Asia, Indonesia | Permalink

EBRD: forecast cut amid warnings over bank deleveraging and eurozone crisis

Jan 24, 2012 10:18am by Stefan Wagstyl

Share this on

Another economic report from a multilateral bank – and another grim warning, this time for central and eastern Europe.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on Tuesday cut its forecast for the region – and rang alarm bells about the danger of an escalation of the eurozone crisis and its impact on the western European banks that dominate CEE banking (outside Russia). Continue reading »

Tags: banking, eurozone crisis, GDP Posted in Europe | Permalink

Chinese New Year: retailers cash in, and so do the pawnshops

Jan 24, 2012 9:18am by Josh Noble

Share this on

Every retailer wants a piece of Chinese New Year – especially when it comes with something as branding-friendly as a mighty dragon. From luxurious dragon-themed Rolls-Royce phantoms, to basic red and yellow flannels at Ikea, potential new year’s gifts are everywhere.

And among those most likely to benefit is the pawnbroker. Continue reading »

Tags: gold, luxury Posted in China | Permalink

India: RBI starts worrying about growth but still frets over inflation

Jan 24, 2012 8:47am by Neil Munshi

Share this on

Investors have been hoping for the Indian central bank to start easing in response to fears of slowing growth. And on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of India delivered, with a cut in the cash reserve ratio requirements for banks and a signal that interest rate reductions could be on the way.

Indian stocks jumped on the news – rising by over 1.5 per cent and extending their gain this year to nearly 10 per cent. Continue reading »

Tags: GDP, India interest rates, monetary policy Posted in India | Permalink

[snap] India pauses on rates, cuts CRR

Jan 24, 2012 6:13am by Neil Munshi

Share this on

India’s central bank paused on key interest rates for the second month in a row, but cut the country’s cash reserve ratio by 50 bps, to 5.50 per cent, in order to release more liquidity into the market.

To combat high inflation, the Reserve Bank of India had raised rates 13 times since March 2010, to 8.50 per cent, severely affecting growth. Inflation fell to 7.47 per cent last month, but economists told beyondbrics that it was not enough to force the RBI to focus on GDP growth, which it now estimates will grow 7.0 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 2012, down from 9 per cent at the beginning of 2011.

Tags: India interest rates Posted in Global | Permalink

Older entries

beyondbrics

The emerging markets hub

About this blog

Headlines email

Blog guide

News and comment from more than 40 emerging economies, headed by Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Follow @beyondbrics

'Like' our beyondbrics Facebook page, where we showcase a top story of the day

Sign up for our news headlines and markets snaphot service. We have two emails per day - London and New York headlines (sent at approx 6am and 12pm GMT).

Pretty much everything you need to know about beyondbrics is in our About this site page. But briefly:

To comment, please register for free with FT.com and read our policy on submitting comments.

There is an overall beyondbrics RSS feed, as well as feeds for all our countries, tags and authors. Learn more in our full RSS guide.

All posts are published in UK time.

Get in touch with us - your comments, advice and even complaints. Find out how to contact the team.

See the full list of FT blogs.

BB shortcuts

Regulars

Series

beyondbrics

Daily Archives: Jan 24, 2012

Argentina to Greek investors: sometimes it pays to take a haircut

10 things about EMs from the IMF

Egypt lifts emergency laws… sort of

Africa: no longer a leap of faith

Hungary: taking Orbán at his word

Abu Dhabi will get its Guggenheim…

Colombia’s Grupo Aval gets belated praise for expansion; more to come?

New York headlines

Private equity: China looks cheap

Further reading: out of breath

Unilever Indonesia: ever upwards?

EBRD: forecast cut amid warnings over bank deleveraging and eurozone crisis

Chinese New Year: retailers cash in, and so do the pawnshops

India: RBI starts worrying about growth but still frets over inflation

[snap] India pauses on rates, cuts CRR

BB: time to register

Global equities macromap

Most popular posts

Number of the day

Most commented

beyondbrics

The emerging markets hub

BB shortcuts

beyondbrics team

Regional teams:

Emerging markets data

Archive

What we’re writing about

What we’re reading