Peru’s economy grew 4.0 percent year-on-year in March, the slowest pace in five months and down from 6.8 percent in February, as copper output fell at the country’s two largest mines. The Central Bank estimates the economy will expand 4.5 percent in 2005.
Category: Regions
Posted inDaily Brief
Gil Diaz Anticipates Rate Cuts
Mexico’s central bank will begin cutting interest rates before yearend as inflation slows, Finance Minister Francisco Gil Diaz said. A reduction would end more than a year of rate increases by Banco de Mexico, which pushed up the overnight loan rate to 9.9 percent from 5.5 percent in the past 15 months. Annual inflation slowed to 4.6 percent in April after peaking at 5.4 percent in November. Mexico’s yearend inflation target is 3 percent.
Posted inDaily Brief
Vale Sees Growth from China
Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, the world’s largest iron-ore producer, expects China to import 250 million metric tons of iron ore this year, 15 percent more than in 2004, as the growing Chinese economy boosts demand for steel. The company says it is boosting output, seeking to take advantage of record iron ore prices to finance investments in areas such as aluminum and coal that will help stabilize earnings when iron-ore prices decline.
Posted inDaily Brief
Colombia: WB Approves Loan
The World Bank has approved a $260 million loan to support Colombia’s Natural Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project, a 10-year governmental program that seeks to reduce the fiscal vulnerability of the state when reacting to natural disasters. The loan is repayable in 14 years and will have a grace period of eight and a half years. The World Bank estimates floods and earthquakes cost Colombia over $1 billion annually.
Posted inDaily Brief
Bancomer’s Profit Rises
Mexican banking group BBVA Bancomer posted a consolidated first quarter net profit of $233 million, up 28 percent year-on-year. The group’s core banking business generated a net profit of $198 million. Bancomer’s mortgage credit portfolio expanded 51 percent to $4.15 billion, thanks largely to the acquisition of Mexican mortgage lender Hipotecaria Nacional in late 2004. Bancomer is the Mexican unit of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Spain’s largest bank.
Posted inDaily Brief
Guatemala Given Grant
The World Bank’s board of directors has said it will provide grants worth $780 million to Guatemala over the next three years. Guatemala, one of the poorest countries in the world, needs to increase growth by approximately 5 percent annually and raise public spending on human development and infrastructure investments to meet the World Bank’s Millennium Development Goals and halve poverty by 2015.
Posted inDaily Brief
America Movil Buys Hutchison
Mexican mobile phone giant America Movil announced that it will buy the Paraguayan unit of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom for an undisclosed sum, though the deal is subject to the approval of Paraguayan authorities. The purchase is part of America Movil’s broader strategy of expanding operations throughout Latin America. The company plans to invest $2 billion in the region this year, mainly in Mexico and Brazil.
Posted inDaily Brief
Noboa Under House Arrest
Ecuador’s former president Gustavo Noboa was placed under house arrest shortly after returning to Guayaquil from exile in the Dominican Republic. Police told him he was under investigation over his handling of foreign debt talks. Noboa said he would appeal to the Organization of American States. Noboa is accused of mishandling debt negotiations while in office.
Posted inDaily Brief
AMLO Steps Down
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico City’s leftist mayor, is standing down to campaign for next year’s presidential elections. He will quit on 31 July. The announcement follows a government decision to drop plans to prosecute him for contempt of court during a land dispute. López Obrador said the prosecution was a plot by conservative President Vicente Fox to prevent him from running for the presidency.
Posted inDaily Brief
Iusacell’s Creditors Want Payments
Creditors of Mexican cell phone operator Iusacell have asked for the accelerated payment of principal and interest of the company’s $350 million debt, due December 2006. Iusacell has not made any payments on its debt since June 2003 when the company was bought by Ricardo Salinas Pliego. Creditors also asked Iusacell for an early repayment of debt in January 2004.