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COUNTRY INSIGHTS

Nazarbayev resigns
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 19 Mar 2019

President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan resigned on March 19. Although he had been in poor health for some time his resignation came sooner than anticipated. He ruled the country for 30 years. He retains the official title 'Leader of the Nation' so he can remain the power behind the throne. He is the ...

Steps toward the approval of Pension Reform
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 18 Mar 2019

President Jair Bolsonaro’s trip to the US is the highlight of the week. He will also travel to Chile. With the arrival of the Pension Reform proposal for the military in the Lower House, the CCJ should begin the debate on Pension Reform; the rapporteur will be chosen this week. In the economy, we...

Economics: There is good and bad in AMLO’s first 100 days
MEXICO · Report · 18 Mar 2019

The first months of the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador have produced striking contrasts in economic matters, although clearly there have been more negative than positive ones. With its de facto impact on the economy dating back at least to late October, when he announced inte...

Politics: The pros and cons of AMLO’s first 100 days
MEXICO · Report · 18 Mar 2019

The balance sheet of President López Obrador’s first fourteen weeks in office is decidedly mixed. The political environment in Mexico clearly has been transformed, but it’s too early to determine the full implications of that shift, although we can say that the list of his positive accomplishment...

Very weak economic activity at the start of 2019
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 18 Mar 2019

After growing only 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2018, or 1.1% in the year average (the same as in 2017), the economy has still not shown any signs of improvement this year. None of the numbers disclosed up through last week (industrial production, real retail sales and real revenues from service...

Accelerating rental prices resulted in higher-than-expected CPI
ISRAEL · Report · 18 Mar 2019

February's CPI (0.1% m/m, 1.2% y/y) surprised on the upside due to accelerating housing rental prices. Our inflation forecast for the NTM remains at the low end of the target (1.0%), on shekel strength and softening labor market pressures, offset in part by higher taxation. We still do not envisi...

Ukrainian election - Zelenskiy pulls further ahead
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 18 Mar 2019

A polling company called SOCIS has found that Zelenskiy has almost 28% of voters committed to him. This is significant because this poll is only about people who said they are certain that they will vote. Zelenskiy's problem is that many of his supporters are first time voters - a demographic tha...

Western tensions, fiscal excesses
TURKEY · Report · 17 Mar 2019

Both the US and EU served notice that Turkey must change its ways to continue its membership in the Western alliance. The US threatens new sanctions if S-400s are purchased and aid to Maduro endures. The EU made it clear that Turkey should expect neither visa waivers nor negotiations on a new Cus...

​Monetae Pax II
ARGENTINA · In Brief · 15 Mar 2019

Although not genuinely unsurprising, February inflation data was still disappointing. The 3.8%m/m brought the annual rate to 51%y/y, accumulating 6.8% in the first two months of the year. As in January, the chief diver was not only utilities but also food. Moreover, once more a key component of t...

Going with the Flow
CHILE · Report · 15 Mar 2019

Economic activity in 2018 ended on a rather negative note. Activity re-accelerated in Q4, especially in non-mining, though growth velocity was well below that of H1. In January 2019, the Monthly Index of Economic Activity was hurt by very unusual and heavy rains in the Atacama Desert, supposedly ...

It is high time to change the course of MNB policy
HUNGARY · Report · 15 Mar 2019

The uptrend of consumer inflation continued at an accelerated pace in February. CPI-inflation now exceeds the MNB’s medium-term target by all existing measures, including core inflation adjusted for indirect tax changes, the central bank’s favorite index. Importantly, inflation rose in the face o...

How to think about Chinese medium-term growth prospects
CHINA FINANCIAL · Report · 15 Mar 2019

Special points to highlight in this issue: • China’s two national political sessions last week set off a largely expected series of announcements and a huge amount of analysis, with nothing fundamentally changing. Beijing still faces the same constraints and the same set of adjustment scenarios....

Private credit for state ends
CHINA ADVISORY · Report · 15 Mar 2019

China is quietly privatizing much of its debt due to an increasing shortage of domestic capital. This will have several outcomes: * A rise in off-balance sheet financing. * An increasing division between state firms that obtain state capital and local infrastructure and private companie...

High speed rail to Nizhny Novgorod needs finance
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 15 Mar 2019

Prime Minister Medvedev ok'd the first part of the enlarged Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod high speed rail line. President Putin will have the final say though. This rail line is unlikely to make a profit. It will cost USD 9.5 billion. Only USD 3 billion dollars will come from Russian Railroads and the f...

Most CCJ members support the government
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 14 Mar 2019

​The Constitution and Justice Committee of the Lower House was installed on Wednesday, March 13, and has 66 members and an equal number of alternates. It will be responsible for analyzing the constitutionality of the Pension Reform proposal. This is the first stage of proceedings in the Lower Hou...

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