Colombia: 41bn barrels of oil by 2030?
Full-steam ahead, that’s how Colombia’s government is determined to set their “energy locomotive”, as they call their ambitious energy plans.
The Andean country is already the fourth-biggest oil exporter in the region, having almost doubled its production since 2006 to 956,312 barrels of oil a day. Continue reading »
When Brazil slows, who slows with it?
The world is used to analysing the impact of China’s slowdown. But what about that of another large emerging economy, whose influence also stretches beyond its borders?
Well, it will come as no surprise that Brazil’s slowdown – from 7.5 per cent in 2010 to 2.7 per cent in 2011 and a forecast 1.5 per cent this year – is hurting neighbours Argentina and Uruguay, where growth generally follows the same cyclical trends. (See chart after jump) Continue reading »
El Salvador says no to Slim
Plucky fellows those market regulators in the small and relatively poor Central American nation of El Salvador. Their opposition has scuppered a deal between two very rich men: one the richest in Ireland, the other the wealthiest in all of the world.
After months of hand-wringing, Digicel, based in Jamaica but controlled by the Irish magnate Denis O’Brien, and Carlos Slim’s América Móvil have renounced plans for a takeover of mobile operator Digicel by the Mexican company, the dominant force in Latin American telecommunications. Continue reading »
[snap] S Africa downgraded by S&P
Credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s has downgraded South Africa to BBB from BBB+, two levels above investment grade. The move follows Moody’s which last month downgraded the country from A3 to Baa1. South Africa’s foreign currency debt rating is now on a rating par with that of Brazil, Russia and Mexico.
The strikes and possible leadership uncertainty in the ruling ANC were given as the main reasons. S&P also is keeping South Africa on negative outlook. More after the jump. Continue reading »
YPF: back to market for $600m
YPF is going to market again. The renationalised Argentine oil company is still biding its time for an international bond issue – though that could come later this year or early next. But hot on the heels of its issue last month for some $320m , it now has another offer underway, for up to some $600m. Continue reading »
Rand relief as truckers agree pay deal
It’s been a tough old week for the South African rand. On Monday (October 8) it broke the 8.9 rand to the dollar barrier, weakening to levels not seen since the depths of the financial crisis in 2009.
But the pressure was somewhat relieved on Friday, with a little good news. The two-week truck drivers strike came to an end with a sizeable wage agreement. It helped nudge the rand back down to around 8.6 to the dollar. Continue reading »
BAT Zimbabwe: ready to deliver on local ownership, but is the government?
Zimbabwe’s indigenisation law, which requires foreign companies to be 51 per cent owned by a local partner, was always going to be tricky to implement.
Cigarette maker British American Tobacco Zimbabwe has a new plan to meet the legal requirement. The problem may be with the other side – can the government deliver? Continue reading »
East-west shipping: steering the course
Last month there was bad news for the world economy from the shipping industry. As beyondbrics reported, freight volumes between China and Europe began to fall in July, and were still dropping – at a time of year when they usually start to rise.
Today, the situation is no better, but it seems that shipping companies are learning to cope with the challenge. Continue reading »
Poland: bye bye austerity
Donald Tusk addressed the Polish parliament on Friday morning, promising not blood, sweat and belt-tightening but massive new spending programmes aimed at boosting growth.
Following IMF head Christine Lagarde’s comments in Tokyo on Thursday, Poland is joining a widening global consensus on the damaging impact of focussing too strongly on fiscal austerity. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* DBS sells Philippine Bank stake for $620million ahead of Basel
* Renminbi hits 19-year high against dollar
* Workers reject South Africa gold mines’ pay plan Continue reading »
Russia: healthy start for MD Medical
Another Russian equity offering gets away smoothly in London – good for Russia and for the City.
Offered at $12, MD Medical Group’s global depositary receipts rose on Friday to trade around 2 per cent up on their first morning. The company’s $311m offer was a modest morsel for the market in comparison with the $5.1bn heavyweight share sale carried out last month by Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank. But it shows that, with the right company at the right price, investors are ready to buy Russia. Continue reading »
Further reading: city of death is reborn
Friday’s picks from the BB team: Mexico’s city of death is reborn; broadening Egypt’s political priorities; and sheltering Syria’s refugees. Plus: UK relations with Narendra Modi; Brazil raises import tariffs; and how a collapsing rial could help Iran. Continue reading »
Pakistan: rate cuts bring little joy outside a booming stock market
Pakistan’s businesses should be celebrating this month’s interest rate cut of 50 basis points, which brought down the rate down to a maximum of 10 per cent.
But many critics argue it will take more than rate cuts to pull Pakistan’s economy out of trouble. Continue reading »
Fund flows: the river runs on
No end in sight to the money flowing into emerging market funds, bond funds in particular.
Boosted by QE3 and bouyed by hopes of some stability, if not calm, returning to markets, fund managers have reported net inflows into both bonds and equities for the fifth week in a row. Continue reading »
India: little cheer in output numbers
India’s economy delivered a pleasant surprise on Friday, with figures for industrial output in August showing annual growth of 2.7 per cent, compared to forecasts of a rise of around 1 per cent in the market.
But the increase was not enough to persuade observers that a real recovery is under way. Nor, with inflation still running high, do they see much room for the central bank to cut rates to boost growth – data also published on Friday showed the consumer price index for September at 9.7 per cent. Continue reading »
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