Colombia has said the concession for Bogotá’s international airport, El Dorado, will not now be awarded until August 28 instead of August 18, as originally planned. The delay is so that Aerocivil, Colombia’s civil aviation authority in charge of the bidding process, can reevaluation documents presented by three bidders that were disqualified in the last bidding round. These are: Corporación América, Siemens together with Colpatria, and Stratis. The winner will be awarded a 20-year concession to run El Dorado and will be expected to invest around $650 million to modernize the country’s largest airport. Earlier this month, Aerocivil extended the bidding process for a concession to operate airports on San Andrés and Providencia islands to allow participating companies, some of which are also bidding for El Dorado, more time to prepare documentation.
Category: Regions
Nicaragua Exports Rise 23%
The value of Nicaragua’s exports for the months January through July rose 23% to $629.5 million, up from $511.3 million for the same period last year, according to the public-sector center for export services (CETREX). Heading up the list of exports was coffee, which accounted for 24.7% of total exports, followed by beef (12.6%). The United States continues to be the largest export market for Nicaragua’s mainly agricultural commodity exports, which also include bananas, sugarcane, beans and lobster.
Ecuador Presidential Candidates Line Up
Seventeen presidential candidates have registered with the Supreme Electoral Court to take part in Ecuador’s elections slated to take place on October 15. If all the candidates participate in the elections is will be the highest number of postulants since the country returned to democracy in 1979. Among those that have registered are the front-runners, left-of-center lawyer León Roldós and right-of-center social democrat Cinthya Viteri, and three-time candidate and banana magnate, Álvaro Noboa, who elected to run at the last minute. However, former president Lucio Gutiérrez will not be standing after his proposed candidacy was denied in June by the Electoral Court. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in October, a second round is scheduled for November 26. The Electoral Court has until August 30 to announce the qualifying candidates.
IIRSA Norte Places $213 Million Bonds To Fund Infrastructure
Peruvian toll-road concessionaire IIRSA Norte has successfully sold $213 million of securitized bonds under 144A rules in the US to mainly European and US investors. The bonds are backed by the issuance of certificates of annual payments (so-called certificados de reconocimientos de pago annual de obras – CRPAOs) made to the concessionaire by the government of Peru to compensate for construction progress. This the first time a Peruvian company has raised financing via this type of financing mechanism, according to law firm Roselló, which acted as legal advisor to IIRSA Norte. Although the CRPAOs are freely transferable, they do not constitute sovereign debt of Peru which means the country’s indebtedness is not affected. The funds raised will be used to finance the construction of the 960-kilometer stretch of Amazonas Norte highway, part of a larger project – Interoceánica – which is part of the plan for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA).
Mexico Economy Grows 4.7%
Mexico’s economy grew by 4.7% in the second quarter of the year, taking first-half growth to 5.1%, the strongest result for the period since 2000. The second-quarter expansion, driven by car and oil exports, was higher than expected by most economists. Last month the central bank raised its growth forecasts for the year to 4.5%. Last year, the economy grew by 3%. Meanwhile, industrial production in the second quarter was up 3.9%, largely due to increased output in construction and manufacturing. And consumer demand is also on the rise as consumer’s take advantage of cheaper credit available as a result of falling interest rates. Mexico’s outgoing president, Vicente Fox, looks set to hand over an economy in good health in December when his terms ends.
Peru Issues $121 Million Local-currency Bonds
Peru has issued $120.7 million worth of bonds in the local market. The government issued two local-currency bonds: one maturing May 2015 to yield 6.9% for $46.5 million and another maturing August 2026 with an interest rate of 7.55% for $74.4 million. Both issues were oversubscribed with demand reaching $113 million and $124.7 million respectively. The bond issues are part of the Sovereign’s plan to raise $660 million this year to meet its financing needs
Peru Looks To Debt Profile
Peru’s newly installed government has said it is looking at ways to pay down some of its more expensive debt to multilaterals and extend the maturity on other debt to lower the country’s debt-servicing costs. By improving the debt profile of its external debt, Peru will be following a move made by several other Latin American countries recently. It will also be continuing a strategy begun under the previous administration of Alejandro Toledo which prepaid around $2.4 billion of its external debt, paying down $1.5 billion of its debt to the Paris Club group of creditors and settling an $830 million debt with Japan Peru Oil Co (Japeco) taken out in the 1970s. The debt payments were financed by selling global bonds into the international and local markets.
Venezuela Ups Oil Supply To Jamaica
Venezuela is to increase the amount of oil it supplies at preferential rates to Jamaica by around 12%. It will now supply 23,500 barrels of crude per day as part of its regional energy plan agreed under the Petrocaribe agreement. Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, visited Jamaica earlier this week to discuss the increase in supply. Venezuela is also working with Jamaican state-run oil company Petrojam to increase the production capacity at a local refinery from 36,000 barrels of oil per day up to 50,000 bpd.
Mexico Achieves 8.08% Yield On 10-Year Benchmark Bond
Mexico achieved a yield of 8.08% on its 10-year benchmark peso bond issue when it sold a further $286 million of the securities at auction yesterday, Tuesday. The yield achieved by the Sovereign on the fixed-rate peso bonds, which mature in December 2015, is lower than that achieved last month when it sold the bond to yield 8.69% and the lowest yield since the end of February. The lower cost of the debt reflects investors’ confidence in the country’s stability and the almost certain presidential win by Felipe Calderón of the ruling PAN party.
Su Casita Secures IFC Revolving Credit
Mexico’s largest home finance company, Hipotecaria Su Casita, has secured a revolving credit line from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank. The local currency credit line, worth $72 million, is part of a larger financing program with the IFC worth $248 million. The credit line will help fund Su Casita’s expansion plans. The company’s main function is to extend mortgage loans to low-income individuals and to provide construction financing to developers of low-income housing. However, the company is also planning to expand into the middle-income section of the Mexican housing market.