Mexico’s state oil company Pemex auctioned a round of short-term bonds worth $44 million on the Mexico City stock exchange last week. The 28-day fixed-rate bonds pay a 9.78 percent fixed annual interest rate. Credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s assigned its mxA-1+ rating to the issue, Fitch its F1+ (mex) rating and Moody’s its MX-1 rating.
Category: Paywall
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Dantas Charged
Daniel Dantas, former Citigroup manager of a $728 million fund in Brazil, was charged with racketeering and breach of confidentiality in connection with a Brazilian probe into whether he hired security firm Kroll to spy on the government and business rivals. The charges, all of which Dantas has denied to the police, are preliminary and must be confirmed by a Brazilian court.
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Petrobras Studies Pakistani Projects
Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, is studying offshore oil and natural gas exploration in Pakistan after company officials visited the country last week. The visit by Petrobras officials comes after Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf visited Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in November.
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EFE Places Bonds
Chile’s state rail company EFE has placed roughly $100 million-worth of local currency bonds. The inflation-indexed 30-year bonds, which are guaranteed by the Chilean government, will finance part of the company’s $1 billion 2003-2005 investment plan. Fitch Ratings and Humphreys rated the bonds AAA. Demand for the bonds was 2.7 times the initial offer, with the final interest rate at 3.79%.
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Rossano Confirmed at Banco do Brasil
The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva confirmed Rossano Maranhão Pinto as president of state-owned Banco do Brasil, Latin America ‘s biggest bank. Maranhão Pinto took over temporarily as president last September after his predecessor Cássio Casseb quit in anger at accusations of financial irregularities made against against him. Analysts had feared the government might replace Casseb with a political appointee. However, Maranhão Pinto is a highly repsected career Banco do Brasil executive, and was formerly vice president of the bank’s international and wholesale division.
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People
The Brazilian government has confirmed Elifas Gurgel do Amaral, 49, as president of Anatel, the federal telecom regulatory agency. Gurgel, an engineer and reserve army colonel, had taken over on an ad hoc basis in January. He is a close ally of Communications Minister Eunício Oliveira and member of the PMDB party, a member of the ruling coalition. The government picked Gurgel over senior career Anatel officials, despite opposition from Finance Minister Antonio Palocci and telecom operators concerned that nominally independent Anatel is losing its autonomy. Brazil has one of the largest and fastest-growing telecom markets in the developing world.
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Congress Votes Against AMLO
Mexico’s lower house of congress voted 360 to 127 to remove Mexico City Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador from office to face charges of disobeying a court order, which could derail his 2006 presidential bid. López Obrador called on his supporters to peacefully resist what he called an unjust, politically motivated attempt to derail his presidential campaign. He specifically accused President Vicente Fox of conspiring to block his candidacy. Yields on Mexico’s ten-year dollar bonds have widened out by 100 basis points since hitting a record low on February 10th.
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Venezuela’s GDP Jumps
Venezuela’s GDP jumped 11.2 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, led by gains in manufacturing, telecommunications, transportation services and energy. Central Bank chief Domingo Maza Zavala predicted the country would achieve growth of between 5.0 and 8.0 percent this year. The country registered a record-high economic growth of 17.3 percent in 2004.
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ConocoPhillips Given License
As part of an agreement ending a dispute on Venezuela’s Corocoro oil field project, state oil firm PDVSA will award ConocoPhillips a natural gas exploration license in the area. ConocoPhillips agreed to a 16.7% flat royalty in February, which is higher than the amount specified in its original agreement. Venezuela’s oil minister Rafael Ramirez has said that PDVSA will revise several agreements with foreign energy firms because their conditions are financially detrimental to PDVSA.
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PEOPLE 2005
The Brazilian government has confirmed Elifas Gurgel do Amaral, 49, as president of Anatel, the federal telecom regulatory agency. Gurgel, an engineer and reserve army colonel, had taken over on an ad hoc basis in January. He is a close ally of Communications Minister Eunício Oliveira and member of the PMDB party, a member of the ruling coalition. The government picked Gurgel over senior career Anatel officials, despite opposition from Finance Minister Antonio Palocci and telecom operators concerned that nominally independent Anatel is losing its autonomy. Brazil has one of the largest and fastest-growing telecom markets in the developing world.