Pemex: not cutting the mustard
If you want to know what is wrong with Mexico, you might start by looking at Pemex’s production figures for last year, which were published on Wednesday in a preliminary report and came in at just under 2011 levels, notching up an eighth straight year of declines. Continue reading »
Jet-Etihad deal: too good to be true?
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways appears to have developed a taste for Indian airlines. Just last month, there were rumours that the state-owned airline was considering investing in Vijay Mallya’s grounded airline, Kingfisher.
Then on Thursday, Jet Airways announced on the Bombay Stock Exchange that it is in discussions with Etihad regarding a possible investment in the Indian carrier. Continue reading »
Poland: clamping down on forex loans
Polish borrowers are about to lose one of the last vestiges of the long-gone real estate boom – the ability to borrow lots of money in a foreign currency.
The Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) is preparing to throttle what little remains of forex lending later this year, limiting such loans only to people actually earning euros or Swiss francs. Continue reading »
Egypt’s currency slides as central bank attempts managed devaluation
The Egyptian pound has been suffering a dramatic devaluation in recent weeks, falling to record lows as political turmoil casts doubt over the country’s economic prospects.
The slide continued on Thursday, albeit at a slower pace, with the currency reaching a record low of £6.42 to the dollar in the spot market as of 15.30 GMT, as the central bank completed its fourth successive dollar auction in a week. This adds to declines of over 3 per cent since Monday when the auctions began – the biggest falls since 2003. Continue reading »
Turkey and Abu Dhabi to develop Turkish coal field
With Turkish power demand having grown by an average of 8 per cent a year over the past decade, the announcement of new power plant projects is a relatively common occurrence. Announcements of 8,000MW of new plant at an estimated cost of up to $12bn, though, are less common. Continue reading »
Peru to prepay debt as currency soars
The Peruvian sol has started 2013 as it ended 2012: trading around its strongest level in 16 years in spite of central bank dollar purchases on local markets of as much as $40m a day.
Those purchases will continue throughout the year promised Miguel Castilla, finance minister, launching an aggressive plan to prepay debt this year in a bid to curb the appreciation of the sol. “We are going to make prepayments of between $1bn and $1.5bn in 2013, and this will serve to absorb some of the appreciating pressure that exists in the economy,” the US-educated minister said in Lima. Continue reading »
Hello 2013: The EM earnings challenge
Today beyondbrics begins a series of posts by outside commentators on the outlook for emerging markets in 2013. Our first contribution is by Geoffrey Dennis of Citigroup
The biggest surprise in emerging markets this year has, in our view, been much weaker growth than originally forecast in several large economies. In summer-2011, Citi economists expected average GDP growth for 2012 of over 6 per cent in emerging markets; the actual outturn looks as if it will be around 4.5 per cent – a big miss. Continue reading »
India’s gold imports: in for a cut?
India’s current account deficit has a heart of gold. And so it is that imports of the yellow metal are facing a two-pronged attack.
The country’s finance minister hinted that importing gold should be costlier on Wednesday, the same day that a working group at the Reserve Bank of India published a draft report with much the same message. Continue reading »
New York Headlines
* Emerging stocks post longest rally in 14 months after China data
* Starbucks takes on Vietnam coffee culture
* Hong Kong shares climb to another 19-month high
* China poised for 2013 rebound as debt risks rise for Xi Continue reading »
Stop! China redefines yellow
China was already notorious for traffic jams but driving on its roads has just got that much more frustrating. A new rule forbids cars from “running” yellow lights and advises drivers to slow down on approaching intersections even when the light is green.
The intention behind the rule is a good one: to make roads safer. But on suffering mild whiplash today when the light turned yellow and my taxi driver slammed the brakes a few feet short of the intersection, it occurred to me that the authorities had not fully grasped the consequences of overturning a century-old worldwide traffic convention. Continue reading »
Further reading: earning for learning
Thursday’s picks from the beyondbrics team: the high price of education is lowering the South Korean birth rate; an interview with AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes; the hidden dissent of the Bahraini middle class; how Chinese steel companies are reducing their exposure to volatile ore prices; plus, Bolivia’s foreign trade dilemma. Continue reading »
The Falklands War is Argentina’s new Falklands War
When the latest episode in Argentina’s bond holdouts saga gathered steam towards the end of last year, there was some discussion on beyondbrics as to whether it could be described as Christina Fernández’s Falklands War: an act of defiance against neo-liberal Anglo-Saxons, presented as a defence of Argentina’s national interests but with the primary aim of distracting ordinary Argentines from a failure of government in Buenos Aires. Continue reading »
London headlines
* Asian shares rise on economic data
* Al Jazeera buys Current TV
* China reports services growth
* Asiacell launches largest Iraq IPO
* Air India gaining ground
* Former Satyam directors win ruling
* S Korea loses ground in ship exports
* India tax agents seize $5bn in US Treasuries Continue reading »
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Stefan Wagstyl
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Pan Kwan Yuk
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