Policy & Government
Investors Eye Zambian Reforms as Lungu Faces Crucial Test
Rising tensions between the Zambian government, led by President Edgar Lungu, and opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, have done little to deter investors who are closely watching the country as it looks to clinch a critical IMF funding programme. They should not be so quick to dismiss the recent escalation that led to Hichilema's arrest and its implications for governance in the Sub-Saharan…
5 May 2017
PPP Reforms in Peru Raise Fresh Concerns Around Funding Sources
As some praise the new public-private partnership (PPP) reforms carried out by the centre-right government of Pedro Kuczynski, others question the impact they may have on construction companies’ abilities to secure financing.
5 May 2017
Brazil: Temer’s Legacy is The Next President’s Inheritance
Economist Zeina Latif warns of the risks of sweeping Brazil’s current problems under the carpet and leaving them for the next administration to deal with.
3 May 2017
When it Comes to Labour Unions, Brazil is Not Venezuela
Brazil is really learning how to be modern. This week the Congress approved the new Labour Laws, making up-to-date the labour laws created by President Getulio Vargas over 70 years ago.
2 May 2017
Top Dealmaker: Alex Kreimerman, HSBC
Chile’s economy may have cooled in 2017, but the banking sector remains as dynamic as ever – with borrowers increasingly looking to new markets for diversification and opportunities to optimise their balance sheets. Bonds & Loans speaks with Alex Kreimerman, Head of Global Banking, Chile, HSBC about how the slowdown has influenced the bank’s strategy in the country, deal flow drivers for this…
1 May 2017
The Idea of Pension Reform in the GCC Needs to Come out of Retirement
Despite depressed oil prices and a broader economic slowdown which has led to record unemployment in the GCC, the topic of pension reform has garnered shockingly little attention. Whether considered from the perspective of taking better care of a rapidly ageing population, or further – some would argue, much needed – development of the region’s asset management sector, it’s an idea whose time has…
28 Apr 2017
GCC Fiscal Break-Even Oil Prices Show Some Adjustment, But Balanced Budgets Are a Way Off
Spending cuts, non-oil revenue measures and falling subsidy bills have all contributed to falling fiscal break-even prices. However, only Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Qatar are somewhat more comfortable at current oil price levels, taking investment income from their large wealth funds into account. Break-even prices are slated to remain high in Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia even after recent…
27 Apr 2017
Standard Bank: A “Two-Speed” Africa is Emerging
For the past two years, many West African nations struggled due to low oil and commodity prices while East African nations like Kenya and Tanzania steamed ahead with robust growth and ambitious infrastructure development plans. But due to a confluence of factors, we seem to be witnessing a broad reversal in that trend.
26 Apr 2017
Can Chile Get its Groove Back?
For more than three decades, Chile was the poster child of neo-liberalism, the country that followed diligently the IMF playbook. Such discipline was rewarded with impressive growth and the envy of its Latin American peers. By 2010, pundits predicted that Chile was but a few years shy of becoming Latin America’s first “developed” nation. The latest down-cycle, marked by both low copper prices and…
25 Apr 2017
Referendum Result Puts Reform in Focus in Turkey
With one of the most controversial referendums in Turkish history having come to pass and growth on the rebound, analysts are now focusing their attention on whether AKP will succeed in refocusing on the reform agenda that ushered in the party’s initial success in 2002.
24 Apr 2017