Capital flows to Latin America: year end 2005

Emerging market bond spreads tightened to record low levels in 2005, as a result of the search for yield in face of ample global liquidity and improving fundamentals in emerging market countries. According to J.P. Morgan, most of the EMBI Global's 8.96% total return in 2005 was derived from spread tightening, which totaled 110 basis points in 2005. The EMBI+ spreads tightened 111 basis points and its Latin component tightened 137 basis points in 2005. Emerging and Latin American markets were also supported by active debt management, as countries took advantage of the favorable external en…

Agricultural transformation and Gender considerations in Caribbean Economics

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the gender and social disparities existing in the agricultural and rural sector in Caribbean economies. In this context, agricultural transformation as occasioned by the dismantling of preferential trading arrangements is analysed to identify the most relevant gender discriminatory measures in the current agricultural development policy and programmes. The analysis seeks to provide the basis for enhancing understanding among policy makers, planners and rural development practitioners of the gender and social dimension involved in the formulati…

Reproductive health and rights: HIV/AIDS amd gender equality

The statistical infrastructure of Caribbean countries

Introduction. Scope and methodology results. Conclusion. Recommendations. Annex 1: data series collected. Annex 2: data series to be collected in the next 2 years. Annex 3: publications. Annex 4: future publications. Annex 5: statistical infrastructure survey .…

Capital flows to Latin America: 2005 highlights

In 2005, abundant global liquidity, as well as low bond yields and flat yield curves, encouraged investors to seek higher returns in emerging markets, compressing credit spreads and helping borrowers to increase new bond issuance and engage in liability management. Investors were also encouraged by improving credit quality in emerging markets, pouring record amounts of money in mutual funds specializing in emerging market nations, helping to raise the total private capital flowing to those countries to unprecedented highs. Against this backdrop, spreads reached record low levels (below pre-As…

Report of the meeting on developing an agenda to address equity gaps in Caribbean SIDS

The millennium development goals: a Latin American and Caribbean perspective

Foreword In September 2000, 147 heads of State and Government, together with 42 ministers and heads of delegation, gathered at the General Assembly of the United Nations to explore ways of pooling their combined will and efforts to revitalize international cooperation on behalf of the less developed countries and, in particular, to mount a frontal assault on extreme poverty. On that occasion they identified goals for their efforts to combat poverty and hunger, reverse environmental degradation, achieve improvements in the fields of education and health, and promote gender equality.…

Capital flows to Latin America: first quarter 2005

Latin American markets entered 2005 with impetus, as the favorable environment for capital inflows at the end of 2004 persisted in the beginning of the year. However, investors' sentiment deteriorated as the first quarter progressed, and concerns about economic conditions (including rising interest rates in the United States and lower liquidity in global markets) increased. In February, Fitch, the credit rating agency, released a report warning that a combination of slowing global growth and higher-than-anticipated U.S. interest rates would lead to a less favorable environment for emergin…

Needs assessment of economic planning units in gender analysis in selected Caribbean countries

In its work in assisting member countries in meeting international commitments to the application of thorough gender analysis in formulating macroeconomic policy, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); has undertaken a needs assessment of economic planning units in four countries of the Caribbean: Belize, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This paper considers to what extent these countries under study have sought to integrate gender into macroeconomic planning, and what are the institutional, human resource capacity and attitudinal …

CEPAL Review no.85

Gender, pensions and social citizenship in Latin America

A major part of the problem of providing high-quality welfare and social protection to the members of a society lies in the issue of how to distribute the responsibility for these services within the society -a problem referred to in this paper as the care dilemma . Different historical junctures and forms of social organization have witnessed different responses to this dilemma. Strictly speaking, the solution is a variable that depends on culture, level of institutional development, the distribution of the resources of power in a society and the ability of the different relevant s…

Capital flows to Latin America: 2004 highlights

Investors expect a strong finish for emerging markets this year, as market environment remains supportive of credit products, especially those with strong fundamentals and interesting yields, which is the case for emerging markets. Since the start of the year there were two sets of forces driving emerging markets debt: global liquidity and fundamental credit improvements. To a large degree, improving credit quality has itself been the result of ample global liquidity and the low interest-rate environment. Against this backdrop, spreads reached record low levels and issuance was boosted. The we…

Capital flows to Latin America: second quarter 2004

During the second quarter, the prospect of an unexpected U.S. interest rate increase weakened investors' appetite for risk, and capital flows to Latin America faded in response. Latin American spreads increased by 71 basis points during the quarter, up to 607 bps at the end of June, from 536 bps at the end of March. Quarterly issuance in Latin America also suffered, dropping to US$4.7 billion, a level not seen since the last quarter of 2002. As a result, Latin America moved behind Eastern Europe, which issued US$6.3 billion or 39% of total emerging market issuance, compared to 29% for L…

Capital flows to Latin America: third quarter 2004

In the third quarter of 2004, the positive interaction of external and domestic factors in the Latin American region created a favorable environment for capital inflows. Among the external factors, an unprecedented amount of global liquidity, combined with an environment of low risk-free rates and a search for yield, was one of the main driving forces in the third quarter. Liquidity and low rates benefited not only emerging market debt, but all risky assets, which have become highly correlated among themselves. However, in the case of emerging markets, and Latin American markets in particular,…

Violence against women in couples: Latin America and the Caribbean. A proposal for measuring its incidence and trends

The present document was prepared by the ECLAC Women and Development Unit for the International Meeting on Gender Statistics and Indicators for Measuring the Incidence of and Trends in Violence against Women in Latin America and the Caribbean (La Paz, Bolivia, 21-23 November 2001). The document reflects the inputs which the participants provided for the working paper submitted by ECLAC at that event. It is a tool for measuring the incidence of violence against women in intimate relationships, as well as the main characteristics of the phenomenon. The first part describes how the problem of vi…

Pension legislation and gender equity in Latin America

The problem of social security for women in Latin America has not yet been resolved. The recent pension reforms have not contributed to solving it but have, in fact, made individuals more vulnerable in terms of social safety nets. In other words, the inequity typical of the region's social security systems has been compounded by new forms of inequity that have emerged along with the reforms. The specific objective of this study is to analyze ways in which the principles of obligatory affiliation to the system enshrined in the pension legislation may be reconciled with inequalities inheren…

Capital flows to Latin America: first quarter 2004

In the first quarter of 2004, bond flows remained strong as issuers rushed to take advantage of low borrowing costs. Emerging market issuance stood at US$24.4 billion, a 15% increase from the US$20.7 billion issued in the first quarter of 2003 and the highest quarterly supply in the last three years. Almost half of this years expected sovereign issuance materialized in the first three months. By region, Latin America had the most issuance this quarter with US$11.6 billion (47.3% of all emerging market debt issuance). However, in the near future, a tightening of liquidity by major industrial…

Democratic governance and gender: possible linkages

This paper has been written within the context of the activities of the ECLAC/Division for the Advancement of Women/United Nations Development Account Project on Democratic Governance and Equality in Gender Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its purpose is to present an overview of the social and institutional changes unfolding in the region and the relationships that exist between democratic governance and the reform of societal gender-based practices. The paper postulates that the new modes of democratic governance take the form of institutional changes, that is to say, they manifest…

Population, ageing and development

In addition to population growth, other demographic issues are taking on political, economic and social importance. Population ageing is one of them, owing to its significant repercussions on the development of countries and the wide range of sectors affected such as health, education, infrastructure and trade. The demographic transition under way in Latin America and the Caribbean reveals that the region`s population is gradually but inexorably ageing. This is a generalized process, in which all the countries are advancing towards the greying2 of their societies. Two characteristics of …

Anuario Estadístico de América Latina y el Caribe 2003 = Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean 2003

La edición 2003 del Anuario estadístico de América Latina y el Caribe contiene una selección actualizada a comienzos de diciembre de las principales series estadísticas disponibles sobre la evolución económica y social de los países de la región. Representa un sistemático esfuerzo de la División de Estadística y Proyecciones de la CEPAL, orientado a homogeneizar las cifras y a hacerlas internacionalmente comparables. La primera parte comprende indicadores socioeconómicos derivados (tasas de crecimiento, proporciones o coeficientes), que representan una visión resumida de cada área de interés y…