Mexico’s central bank has cut the benchmark lending rate by half a percentage point to 7.75%, the lowest level in almost a year and a half. Record core inflation figures of 3%, as at mid January, spurred the bank to cut the rate for the six consecutive month. Economists expect this to be the last big reduction to the benchmark rate by the central bank for the next few months due to inflationary concerns.
Category: Regions
Posted inDaily Brief
Morales Culls Armed Forces
Evo Morales has forced into retirement dozens of top brass in the armed forces in one of his first acts as president of Bolivia. A scandal concerning the irregular disposal of Bolivian missiles in the US has been rumbling in the background since October and put several senior military officers under investigation. In a move that shows Morales keen to take a firm hand with the armed forces, the new president promoted more junior officers appointing a new commander-in-chief and new heads of the army, air force, navy and police.
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Buoyant Exports Drive Down Mexican Trade Deficit
Mexico’s booming exports last year helped to narrow the country’s trade deficit to $7.56 billion, a drop of just over 14% compared with 2004. Mexico’s total exports in 2005 were up 13.7% year on year to $213.7 billion, helped by a buoyant automotive sector exporting to the US. In general, the non-oil sector was up by over 10% during the year, while the high price of crude oil helped to keep oil export figures healthy. Imports rose 12.4% year on year to $221.3 billion.
Posted inDaily Brief
Telmex To Tap International Markets With Peso Bonds
Mexican telephone operator Teléfonos de México (Telmex), owned by local business magnate Carlos Slim, it to tap the international markets with 10-year local currency bonds. Telmex’s offering would be only the second ever Mexican peso-denominated corporate issue. The first such issuance was made last November by another of Slim’s companies, cell phone operator América Móvil, which sold 5 billion pesos ($476 million) of 10-year bonds.
Posted inDaily Brief
Morales Names Cabinet
Bolivia’s new president, Evo Morales, continues to do away with convention by selecting a predominantly indigenous cabinet for the first time in the country’s history. Morales has also broken new ground by appointing a woman, Alicia Muñoz, to the important post of minister of the interior. The other crucial position, that of hydrocarbons minister, goes to Andres Soliz Rada, a lawyer and journalist with a history of defending the country’s natural resources. Aymara intellectual David Choquehuanca becomes the new foreign minister.
Posted inDaily Brief
Morales Takes Office In Bolivia
Evo Morales was sworn in Sunday as the 65th president of Bolivia, becoming the country’s first indigenous head of state. Dressed in his trademark informal attire, Morales was inaugurated in a ceremony witnessed by several world leaders, including Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and, historically, Ricardo Lagos of Chile – the first Chilean leader to visit Bolivia since diplomatic relations were broken off between Bolivia and Chile in 1978. Morales had participated in an indigenous leadership celebration on Saturday at the ancient remains at Tiahuanaco attended by thousands of Aymara and Quechua Indians. Morales has already made it clear that his government intends to rewrite the country’s constitution, wrest control of the country’s huge natural gas reserves from multinationals and has called for countries to cancel Bolivia’s external debt. In December the IMF wrote off Bolivia’s $200 million debt. Spain followed suit, canceling $120 million owed by the Andean nation.
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GECC To Sell Mexican Peso Debt
US General Electric Capital Corp (GECC), is preparing to launch a 10-year Mexican peso bond. The corporate is a AAA-rated issuer as rated by Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings. The deal will be led by CSFB and Merrill Lynch International.
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Pemex Offers $1.5 Billion Notes
Mexican state oil company Pemex has reopened two previous notes issues to offer a further $1.5 billion of debt. The offering was made in the 144a private placement market for a 2015 note and a 2035 note. The notes are expected to yield up to 1.39 percentage points and 1.99 percentage points, respectively, over comparable US treasuries. The offering is being managed jointly by Credit Suisse, Lehman Brothers and UBS Investment Bank.
Posted inDaily Brief
Telmex Issues 4.5 Billion Peso Bonds
Mexican telephone operator Teléfonos de México (Telmex), owned by local business magnate Carlos Slim, has made an offering of 4.5 billion ($428 million) 10-year peso bonds. The bonds, which mature in 2016, carry an annual interest rate of 8.75% and are rated BBB+ by Standard & Poor’s and A2 by Moody’s. This is only the second ever peso-denominated local corporate issuance in Mexico. The first was made last November by another of Slim’s companies, cell phone operator América Móvil, which sold 5 billion pesos ($476 million) of 10-year bonds.
Meanwhile, Telmex has lost a case to claim back 9 billion pesos of income tax on share buybacks made between 2002 and 2004. Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled against the company which was trying to have the tax declared unconstitutional following changes to the income tax laws in 2002. The company says the ruling will have no financial impact as it has already made the deductions.
Posted inDaily Brief
Honduran Regulator Rejects Mexican Bank License
The Honduran bank regulator (CNBS) has rejected the application of Mexican Banco Azteca for a license to operate in Honduras. The regulator cited the bank’s failure to disclose pending charges of fraud against Azteca’s owner, Ricardo Salinas, in the US. Salinas has been accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of defrauding minority shareholders of over $100 million.