DEBT RESTRUCTURING MAY BE ARGENTINA'S KEY TO
RECOVERY.
The headline posted on Pravda.ru (a site that claims to be the
rightful heir to the famous newspaper closed by Boris Yeltsin in 1991)
read: "Argentina Did It".
And in the days before closing on . . .
BRAZIL CONSUMER SPENDING STRONG.(Brief Article)
The consensus on retail spending in Brazil is positive. Coupled
with good news on the macroeconomic front, prospects for 2005 are upbeat
with one or two cautions. Bloomberg, referencing interviews . . .
VENEZUELA'S CONSUMERS SPEND AS OIL REVENUES RISE.
There are two determinants of consumer spending in Venezuela oil
and politics. Oil prices increased sharply in 2004 and though they have
declined recently they are still relatively high.
. . .
NEW FOOD FAD FROM BRAZIL.(Rodizio, a steak house )(gastro
pub)
Sao Paulo, Brazil, is a "good eating town", as they say.
A favorite of restaurant goers in South America's biggest city is
the "Rodizio", a steak house serving meat grilled on a spit,
brought to . . .
MEXICO'S DURABLES SPENDING NOT EXPLAINED BY GDP
ALONE.(consumer spending for durable and non-durable goods)
Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean in 2004 economies were
growing and Governments are getting high marks from bank and investment
analysts for astute management of their macroeconomic . . .
CHILE STALKS INFLATION.(Brief Article)
On February 10, 2005 Bloomberg News reported an unusual move on the
part of Chile's central bank, the Banco Central de Chile (BCC).
Bloomberg said that for the second time in a month, the central . . .
MEXICO'S RESURGENT CONSUMER SPENDING.
In mid-December of 2004, Mexico's central bank raised interest
rates. News reports of this event frequently used the word
'unexpected'. To that point, the numbers and forecasts coming
in including . . .
PRICES FALL IN CHILE.(Brief Article)
Lower bus fares in Santiago tell the whole story. And the story, as
reported by Bloomberg News from Santiago in early January 2005 is that a
decline in oil prices made it possible to lower the . . .
CONSUMPTION PATTERNS IN CHILE.
Consumption patterns in Chile, are determined more by family
identities, relationships, ideologies, and gender than is commonly
thought.
For example, working-class women in Chile are not . . .
BRAZIL'S MIXED INFLATION MESSAGES.(Brief Article)
In a companion analysis this month (see page 4), Market: Latin
America notes that one estimated measure of Brazil's inflation
shows consumer prices increasing 14.7 percent when the tally is in . . .
COLOMBIA GRAPPLES WITH DEBT AND CIVIL WAR.(Brief Article)
For the past two years, Colombia's GDP posted a 3.7 percent
gain in 2003, and 4.0 percent in 2004. The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) expects the country's GDP to finish the year at 4.0 . . .
URUGUAY NEEDS DIVERSITY TO AID RECOVERY.
Uruguay is in transition. In March 2005 a new left-leaning
Government will take office. The new President, Tabare Vazquez, with an
eye on the confidence of the country's debt holders, has . . .
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE SLIPS IN PERU.(Brief Article)
Exports and more control over inflation are reasons for optimism in
Peru, but consumer confidence is slipping, according to The Apoyo Group
(Lima), a major consulting firm specializing in the . . .
DOLLARIZATION AND ECUADOR'S CONSUMERS.
Does dollarization really help Ecuador's consumers?
The short answer is 'Yes'.
The longer answer is 'Maybe'. And as with a lot of
'Maybes' this one carries a few dismal 'Ifs'.
The 'yes' part . . .
SUMMER FUN IN ARGENTINA.(catching of tax evaders)(Brief
Article)
It's summer in Argentina, and those consumers who can afford
to are off to the beach and so are Argentina's tax collectors.
They're not going, though, to "catch some rays" but to
catch some of . . .
DEMAND FOR CUBAN TROPICAL FRUIT INCREASES.
The cliche is that Cuba's economy has been devastated by years
of a U. S. embargo, and, more recently, the collapse of its major
Eastern European trading partners and the former Soviet Union. . . .
ARGENTINE CONSUMERS RELAX A BIT.(forecasts and trends of consumer
price index)
Looking at the detail from the release of Argentina's most
recent (December 2004) consumer price index, two of the components
indicate subtle and promising changes in consumer expectations.
. . .
CAR SALES INCREASE SHARPLY IN LATIN AMERICA.
Automotive sales are likely to increase strongly all across the
Latin American region in 2005. The increase in sales results from
declining unemployment and the highest consumer confidence in a . . .
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC FINANCIAL CRISIS OVER.(Brief Article)
When Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez took over the
reins of power mid-year 2004 the country was in financial meltdown.
Between February 2003 and February 2004, the Dominican peso took . . .
FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALS.
The Latin American market for financial services to high net worth
individuals (HNWI) generates $US16-billion in revenue for the region
according to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
There are . . .
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