In the second quarter of 2002, conditions in global financial markets worsened as investor confidence deteriorated and risk aversion heightened. The revelation of corporate accounting irregularities in mature markets negatively affected investors' sentiment, causing a rebalance of portfolios in favor of higher quality assets and away from equities and low-grade bonds. Countries seen as higher risk were adversely affected by this rebalancing of portfolios. A number of Latin American countries were the focus of investors' concerns, in particular Brazil, where developments during the se…
1. Rasgos generales de la evolución reciente La economía mexicana completó en 2002 un bienio de virtual estancamiento y se encamina a un tercer año de escaso dinamismo, después de que entre 1996 y 2000 registrara un crecimiento promedio anual de 5%. El producto interno bruto (PIB) se elevó 0,9% en 2002 (apenas la mitad de la meta del gobierno), lo que se tradujo en una nueva caída del empleo y del ingreso por habitante. En este resultado se conjugaron la pausada evolución del consumo, el retroceso de la inversión por segundo año consecutivo y la debilidad de la demanda estadouni…
With the first signals of a global economic recovery, prospects for private capital flows to emerging markets improved in the first quarter of 2002. Despite the concerns over corporate accounting practices in the U.S. and the deepening of the economic and financial crisis in Argentina, emerging equity and bond markets have outperformed those in industrialized countries. Emerging market equities and bonds in the first quarter of the year continued to show the strong performance that started in the fourth quarter of last year. The overall JP Morgan Chase EMBI+ excluding Argentina rose about 20%…
Resumen Este trabajo presenta un análisis de las políticas macroeconómicas aplicadas en la Argentina a lo largo de los años noventa y de sus efectos sobre la vulnerabilidad social. Se describe inicialmente el esquema macroeconómico que estuvo vigente en todo ese período y se caracteriza su forma de funcionamiento. Luego se estudia la evolución del mercado de trabajo en una perspectiva agregada, atendiendo al hecho de que las condiciones de empleo y la evolución del desempleo son variables cruciales por su gravitación sobre la vulnerabilidad social. Posteriormente se examina la evolución de…
O texto aborda implicações de hipotéticos resultados da negociação da Área de Livre Comércio das Américas (ALCA) sobre o Investimento Externo Direto (IED) em um conjunto selecionado de segmentos de serviços —a saber, seguro-saúde, seguro de crédito à exportação, transportes terrestres, serviços de engenharia e serviços profissionais. Partindo-se do pressuposto de homogeneização regulatória, cujo centro de gravidade estaria nas economias desenvolvidas da ALCA, examina-se em que medida o atual panorama para produtores locais, naqueles segmentos, viria a mudar diante das possibilidades…
1. Rasgos generales de la evolución reciente En 2002 la actividad económica de Costa Rica mostró signos de recuperación, tras dos años consecutivos de notoria pérdida de dinamismo. El producto interno bruto (PIB) real aumentó 2,8%, impulsado tanto por la expansión de la demanda interna como por la recuperación de las exportaciones de bienes y servicios. Las ventas externas de las empresas que operan bajo el régimen de zona franca, de productos agropecuarios no tradicionales y de servicios, contribuyeron al repunte de las exportaciones (4,1%), después de dos años de retroceso.…
Foreword The 1990s were unquestionably a time of transition and reorientation in several aspects of Latin America and the Caribbean's economic, social and political development. As in any period with these characteristics, the effects of long-standing processes mingled and interacted with incipient change. When the decade ended, ECLAC wished to contribute to the evaluation of the main events that marked the consolidation of reform in the region, recognizing of course that the speed of progress varied from country to country and from sector to sector. This publication offers an analysis of…
The objective of this paper is to present and illustrate from a game-theory perspective, the main concepts and challenges behind macroeconomic policy cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Examples are taken from fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies in a regional framework. Translating these concepts and examples into the economics of sub-regional integration, when countries have increasing commercial and financial relations, interact frequently and cannot escape from the consequences their decisions have on their partners, the paper contend that entering into a cooperative dyn…
The emerging markets debt class entered 2003 in sound shape. Similar to 2002, emerging markets debt finished the first quarter of 2003 as the top performer over all other fixed income asset classes, as well as equity markets. The downside risks for the global recovery, uncertainty about the length of the war with Iraq, and the deteriorating economic outlook in the US and Europe actually contributed to highlight the benefits of diversification into emerging markets. The flow of funds into emerging debt markets was a major factor pushing spreads down during the quarter. These inflows were drive…
Resumen A pesar de la difícil situación de la economía internacional y de los mercados de capitales, especialmente en los llamados mercados emergentes, en este trabajo se demuestra que existe una coyuntura relativamente favorable para el financiamiento de iniciativas de inversión en empresas y proyectos vinculados con la eficiencia energética y tecnologías de producción de energías limpias. Las inversiones en energía que contribuyan al mejoramiento ambiental resultan ahora atractivas para muchos inversionistas privados, empresas proveedoras de equipos y servicios, y entidades financieras…
La política fiscal aplicada en Argentina durante los años noventa es generalmente considerada como uno de los principales factores que explican el fracaso del programa de convertibilidad y la posterior crisis. Este documente se preparó con el objeto de evaluar las finanzas públicas desde una perspectiva histórica, tanto en términos de su consistencia interna como de su efecto sobre el funcionamiento de la macroeconomía durante la vigencia de ese programa y posterior crisis. Asimismo, a fin de comprender los determinantes del desempeño fiscal, se introducen elementos que permiten la evaluación …
Durante los años noventa, Argentina implementó un programa de estabilización económica basado en una convertibilidad fija de la moneda doméstica con el dólar que contuvo, además, reformas macroeconómicas, estructurales y regulatorias (apertura de la economía, privatizaciones, desregulación de los mercados, facilitación de flujos financieros internacionales, etc.). Este proceso ha modificado de manera sustantiva el balance regional del país incrementando la brecha de desigualdad entre las regiones. Desde el punto de vista fiscal, a medida que las relaciones finan…
Puerto Rico and Caribbean Community (CARICOM); Caribbean countries share important
common characteristics. They are open economies and while their trade specialization
patterns are heterogenous, historical, institutional and geographical factors have shaped
export and import linkages that are closely tied to those of the United States and Western
Europe.
CARICOM Caribbean economies and Puerto Rico also adopted, early on, a common approach
to development, that of 'industrialisation by invitation'. Its main elements included
fiscal incentives, the attraction of foreign direct investmen…
Resumen Las alternativas de política para fortalecer el ahorro de los estratos de menores ingresos se analizan en este documento, sobre la base de casos registrados en seis países: Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Perú y Uruguay. En la introducción se hace referencia al ahorro interno como fuente de crecimiento de la economía y a la acumulación de activos por parte de las personas de menores ingresos como mecanismo para reducir la pobreza y disminuir la desigualdad intergeneracional de ingresos. Luego, en el segundo capítulo, se examinan los factores que explican el ahorro …
The decline in flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Latin America and the Caribbean which began in 2000 grew even sharper in 2002. This trend reflects a major change in the world and regional economies. At the regional level, it is associated with greater instability, slow economic growth and the approaching completion of the privatization process. National crises such as those experienced by Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela made investors become more risk-averse. Sluggish growth in demand in the United States economy hurt investment in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, where…
The fourth quarter of 2002 saw an increase in investor optimism, especially in October and November. The combination of declining risk aversion and a technically well-positioned market caused a rally in emerging debt markets. In Latin America, markets traded strongly following the elections in Brazil and Ecuador. Brazil enjoyed a dramatic improvement in investor sentiment after the elections, supported by the new government's commitments to continue fiscal and economic reforms, as well as the global easing of credit conditions . Although sovereign spreads remained wide, Brazilian borrower…
This document analyses exchange rate regimes in the Caribbean subregion. Caribbean
exchange rate regimes are typified into hard and soft pegs. Hard pegs refer to those
arrangements that maintain a constant value of the domestic currency in terms of the
currency of a major trading partner. The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS);
economies established a monetary union in 1983. The Bahamas, Belize and Barbados also
fixed the value of their domestic currency in relation to the United States dollar in the
middle of the 1970s. Soft pegs are monetary arrangements characterized by a force…
O objetivo deste estudo é analisar o mercado financeiro e de crédito sob o aspecto do atendimento da população mais pobre do Brasil. A grande questão é até que ponto os mecanismos do mercado financeiro funcionam para atender as necessidades da população de baixa renda. Para tanto serão apresentadas informações sobre a oferta existente no Brasil, considerando produtos e serviços formais do sistema financeiro, inclusive oferta de programas especiais com a intervenção do governo, oferta por parte de estabelecimentos comerciais (crédito direto ao consumidor), oferta das organizações microfinanceir…
Abstract The paper deals with changes in the regulation and supervision of the Latin American financial sector in the aftermath of the Tequila Crisis of 1994-1995. While it finds that both have improved, regulation and supervision cannot resolve all problems; good macroeconomic policy and performance are essential complements. This is especially true because of the procyclical nature of financial activity. The paper presents both regional data for Latin America, contrasting it with other emerging markets, and four country case studies (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico). The latter show how…
Abstract In this overview we analyse, first, why funds continued to flow towards emerging economies, while fundamentals in host countries had been deteriorating before the Asian crisis (a rising external deficit, with a significant liquid component; appreciating exchange rates; low capital formation, particularly in Latin America), and why funding remains dry for long since 1998; the role of the nature of the predominant agents and of a process of flows rather than one-shot building of stock of foreign capital are stressed. Then, the analysis focuses on the interrelations of capital flows and …
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