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Recent comments by Uruguayan vice president Danilo Astori have put the current economic crisis in a disturbing light: “I have no doubts we are before the most significant financial crisis capitalism has faced in contemporary history”, Mr. Astori remarked when asked about the ramifications for Uruguay of the stumbling trend in the US dollar and Euro. The vice-president said that Uruguay is much better prepared commercially and economically, should another crisis occur. Astori referenced the fact that following the August 5th decision by Standard and Poor’s to downgrade the rating of US debt from AAA to AA+, world markets collapsed, down in some cases as much as 11%. World commodities bore some abuse, and the hardest hits were apparent in oil. “In coming months we might be faced with scarce availability of credit, and therefore it is possible we will be seeing a tendency for interest rates to increase”, predicted Astori, a former economist who held the Minister of Finance position from 2005 to 2008.
August 9th, 2011 | Posted in Global Finance,Headlines,International Real Estate | Read More »
Early in August, Japanese beverage and beer giant acquired a massive stake in Brazil’s Schincariol, part of a growing hunger for South American commodities by Asian investors. For example, that same week, China’s JAC Motors announced it would invest $900 million in a Brazilian auto plant. Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) have all been deemed hot investment properties at roughly the same stage of development. Brazil is widely viewed as the manufacturing powerhouse of South America, though it’s unstable fiscal policies are a worry to some. China, in desperate need of energy, mineral and food resources worldwide, has surpassed the United States, becoming Brazil’s largest trading partner and the largest investor there in 2010, injecting about $30 billion.
August 8th, 2011 | Posted in Global Finance,Headlines | Read More »
Finance ministers and other high ranking officials from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) trading group of South American nations announced August 5th that the group is attempting to build confidence ahead of any possible apparent crisis. Luis Miguel Castila, the Peruvian Finance Minister stated that the group’s meeting Friday should bolster investor’s confidence. and that countries in the groups are managing their economies well, and are trying to increase integration in order to confront any global economic challenges. “I think that it is a signal that should provide confidence to the rest of the world among a scenario [sic] of uncertainty,” the finance minister stated stated.
August 6th, 2011 | Posted in Global Finance,Headlines | Read More »
The government of Brazil has recently taken steps to improve the transparency of real-estate funds in an attempt to lure more investment to Brazil’s booming real estate sector. Breifs, as the Brazilian real estate funds are called, have ballooned in recent years, hand-in-hand with a real-estate boom driven by 10 years of strong, reasonably consistent economic growth. Real-estate values in some desirable regions of the country have skyrocketed, which is causing analysts to suspect a bubble. Others, however, still see plenty of room for growth, pointing to the fact that real-estate financing amounts to only 3% of GDP. Breifs- similar financial instruments to U.S. real-estate investment trusts, also known as REITs- buy and rent commercial properties in and around developed areas of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, although the fund’s structure is versatile, and they can be used for other purposes, like financing. One thing that separates them from their U.S. counterparts is that the Brazilian funds can’t take on loans to inflate returns.
August 5th, 2011 | Posted in Global Finance,Headlines,International Real Estate,Real Estate News | Read More »
According to several sources, the Saudi Arabian property market is expected to boom thanks in large part to a boost in government spending. The stimulus has been significant enough to affect economic growth forecasts by the IMF. The forecasts for 2011 were around 6.5 percent, up 2.4 percent from 2010. The stimulus in question was announced in March, when King Abdullah vowed to spend 30 percent of Saudi Arabia’s economic output, or approximately $130 billion on public spending, such as mass housing and job creation. $67 billion of the funds will go towards building 500,000 homes, in addition to earlier investments of $15 billion to bankroll the construction of 1.65 million homes in the next five years. A ministry will also be established with an annual budget of $4 billion. The IMF and other observers are speculating that these measures will increase the productivity of the country as a whole. “We will have to see how this new supply affects the market,” said Mike Williams, the senior director of Middle East Research and Consultancy at CB Richard Ellis, in relation to the supply of new homes that will come on the market.
August 4th, 2011 | Posted in Global Finance,Headlines,International Real Estate,Real Estate News | Read More »
Argentinian authorities have announced plans to develop a nuclear-powered submarine for it’s navy, which it plans to arm with conventional weapons, for the time being. The armament of choice for such subs is typically nuclear torpedoes. Despite political rhetoric to the contrary, many South American countries are spending their gains from the current commodities boom on military endeavors, expensive new war toys, and rearmament of aging military forces. Richer countries, such as Venezuela, which benefits heavily from oil exports, have even borrowed against future income to arm their military. Though Argentina is only the third largest economy in South America, and has not benefited as much as other states from the commodities boom, the country seems bent on a nuclear sub.
August 1st, 2011 | Posted in Global Finance,Headlines,International Real Estate | Read More »
In order to address the distortions on local currency caused by increased worldwide liquidity and import dumping, South America’s top economic analysts, policymakers and monetary authorities will be meeting in Lima and later in Buenos Aires to formulate a plan of action. The announcement was made by Argentine president Christina Fernandez and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia, during July 29th ceremony inaugurating the Argentine embassy in Brasilia. Referring to a joint statement by the presidents, Ms. Roussef said,“We must define joint and specific actions to defend our countries from the excessive liquidity that artificially revalue our currencies, and from the avalanche of manufactured goods which can’t find a market in advanced countries and impact on employment and industry in our region.” The plans for the meetings were originally made during the UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) meeting held in Lima on July 28th, following the official inauguration of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, who chaired the UNASUR meeting.
July 31st, 2011 | Posted in Global Finance,Headlines,International Real Estate | Read More »
On July 29th, Ecuador modified its banking laws by requiring financial institutions to invest a small portion of their reserve requirements in government debt, according to Klever Mejia, the Central Bank of Ecudaor director of risks. Private banking institutions must now put a minimum of 1 percent of their reserves in government debt bonds, Mejia said to Bloomberg News. A reserve requirement is an amount of capital that a bank must have on hand, usually a percentage of it’s overall holdings. The percentage is almost always set by the central bank, and ensure that the bank has cash on to pay depositors, and is not overextended. On July 13 the central bank stated it was changing banks’ reserve laws to “establish global liquidity levels that guarantee adequate margins of financial security.” Meija responded to this on the 29th saying, “At least 1 percent of the securities must be issued by the public sector.”
July 29th, 2011 | Posted in Global Finance,Headlines | Read More »
The tiny, struggling nation of Zimbabwe has announced plans to import U.S. currency in the form of small coinage for shops, which are otherwise unable to give customers change, according to finance minister Tandai Biti. In 2009, Zimbabwe officially allowed domestic trade in U.S. dollars, after soaring hyperinflation made the Zimbabwean dollar worth less than the paper it was printed on. Street-side walls are littered with fliers and broadsides against the government printed on the defunct notes. The US dollars most people deal in are abundant, but there is a desperate need for small coins, pennies in particular, according to the BBC.
July 28th, 2011 | Posted in Global Finance,Headlines,International Real Estate | Read More »
Rangers at Galapagos National Park and an Ecuadorean navy ship detained a fishing vessel with 357 shark carcasses found on board. The ship was found inside the marine reserve found inside the marine reserve in mid-July. There were about 30 fisherman apprehended with the dead sharks, they now face criminal charges for poaching. Commercial-scale fishing, especially for shark, is totally illegal within the parameters of the Galapagos Islands. Commercial fishing has made one third of all sharks at risk of extinction.
July 26th, 2011 | Posted in Global Finance,Headlines | Read More »
