Regardless of election outcomes in October, Argentina’s next government will begin liberalizing its economy, potentially loosening restrictions on the repatriation of funds, reducing the enforcement of price controls and reducing subsidies. Despite slight changes to Argentina’s regulatory framework, the government will continue to bar some investment and businesses to stem capital flight and to maintain … Continue reading
Moody’s Investors Service lowered India’s economic growth forecast to 7 percent for 2015, from its previous estimate of 7.5 percent, as it believes that below normal monsoon rainfall will offset higher government spending and cautioned that further risks to growth stems from a slow pace of reforms. “We have revised our GDP growth forecast down to … Continue reading
Argentina’s open presidential primary is over, and the stage is now set for the election in October. With the current president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, constitutionally barred from running again, the autumn poll looks set to be a fight between Argentina’s two main political coalitions. On the left is Daniel Scioli, the current governor of … Continue reading
By International Crisis Group The accelerating deterioration of Venezuela’s political crisis is cause for growing concern. The collapse in 2014 of an incipient dialogue between government and opposition ushered in growing political instability. With legislative elections due in December, there are fears of renewed violence. But there is a less widely appreciated side of the drama. … Continue reading
Things are not looking good for Brazil’s Real – news articles flooded with reports of a ten-year low of the Brazilian currency against the US dollar. After a turbulent presidential election and international oil prices hike, those factors finally hit the country’s economic very hard. Having said that, could bitcoin be a good way to … Continue reading
By Charles Hugh Smith You’ve probably read that there is a “war on cash” being waged on various fronts around the world. What exactly does a “war on cash” mean? It means governments are limiting the use of cash and a variety of official-mouthpiece economists are calling for the outright abolition of cash. Authorities are … Continue reading
By Stratfor Global Intelligence In the wake of Brazil’s oil corruption scandal, the country’s ruling political coalition has all but fallen apart. The ongoing investigation of corruption charges against state-owned energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro has the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), a long-time ally of the ruling Workers’ Party, distancing itself from Brazilian President Dilma … Continue reading
China, the world’s second-largest economy, could be the next country to join the zero interest rate club, according to Oxford Economics. “There is a risk that Chinese short-term rates will approach the zero ‘lower bound’ by 2016,” said Adam Slater, an economist at Oxford, in a research note on Tuesday. Oxford’s Slater believes that China’s economic … Continue reading
The interest rate cutting cycle in emerging market (EM) nations is nearing an end, Capital Economics says. So far in July, more EM Central Banks have hiked interest rates than have cut rates – which is the first time that this has happened since in December 2014. Capital Economics says that they expect to see … Continue reading
By Belén Marty The Central Bank of Argentina released record-setting figures this month: the monetary base is now at AR$510.5 billion, swelling 10 percent since the start of the year. The central government has used this substantial expansion — comprised of banknotes in circulation, cash in financial entities, and demand deposits in checking accounts — to finance its large fiscal … Continue reading