IMF Calls on LatAm Governments to Create More Employment
April 8th, 2013By Narayan Ammachchi
Alejandro Werner, IMF’s new Director of the Western Hemisphere, says he expects the economic growth in Latin America to remain strong in 2013, but he has asked the governments in the region to focus on ‘growth-enhancing and employment-generating’ policies to reduce poverty and income inequality.
Werner, who left BBVA Bancomer to join the IMF in January this year, says large capital inflows were generating some volatility in some domestic financial markets.
“The IMF has to work closely with policymakers in these countries to help them design policies that will put them on a path of higher growth and declining debt-to-GDP levels,” Werner stated in an interview given to IMF’s in-house publication IMF Survey Online.
The IMF’s executive said he would work with Brazil and Mexican governments to help them strengthen their fiscal and regulatory frameworks. “I think we have to assist …
President Obama Schedules Visits to Mexico and Costa Rica
March 28th, 2013By Narayan Ammachchi
President Obama is set to visit Mexico and Costa Rica in the first week of May to strengthen economic ties.
“This trip is an important opportunity to reinforce the deep cultural, familial, and economic ties that so many Americans share with Mexico and Central America,” states the press release from the White House.
Obama will meet his Mexican counterpart President Peña Nieto and discuss ways to deepen the economic and commercial partnerships with the two countries. In Costa Rica, the President is slated to meet with President Laura Chinchilla, as well as heads of state of the other Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.
“The trip will be an important chance to discuss our collective efforts to promote economic growth and development in Central America and our ongoing collaboration on citizen security,” stated the White House.
With the Right Reforms, LATAM Could Grow ‘Much Faster’, says IDB
March 20th, 2013BY STAFF REPORT
Latin American countries should adopt structural reform to retain growth rates as the global economy appears to be slowing down, says the Inter-American Development Bank in its annual macroeconomic report released this week.
The report, “Rethinking Reforms,” argues that if countries across the region embrace reforms that are tailor-made to their particular institutions, regional spillovers will boost overall growth.
“We are expecting moderate growth in the region for several years and even if there is room for counter-cyclical fiscal policy, countries should refrain as fiscal space has also diminished,” said Santiago Levy, Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge for the IDB. “It’s crucial for countries to consider more structural measures to boost growth.”
The report notes that the region is likely to grow just 3.9 percent annually over the next five years, nearly one percentage point lower than the 4.8 percent registered before …
Bumpy Road Ahead For Venezuela’s Outsourcing Sector
March 12th, 2013By James Bargent
Atento’s Rodas: Not giving up on outsourcing in Venezuela
Hugo Chavez was a divisive and controversial figure but a man acknowledged by his critics and admirers alike as a political titan who left his mark on Venezuela like no leader before him. His death last week brings to a close a 14-year era that radically reshaped the political, social and economic landscape of the entire country. For those involved in outsourcing and services provision, and for the business sector in general, it is not an era that will be remembered warmly.
Foreign Techies Get Higher Priority in New Citizenship Plan
January 31st, 2013BY STAFF REPORT
The United States seems set to overhaul its immigration system with an aim to attract the world’s best and the brightest, a move analysts say will help American businesses boost their competitiveness in the global marketplace.
A bipartisan group of US senators Wednesday offered their proposals for reforming the immigration system. Given the contents in the new proposal, immigrants with graduate degrees from U.S. universities in the fields of science, technology, engineering or math will find it easier to get permanent U.S. citizenship.
It is believed that there are more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Analysts say immigrants from Latin American countries will be the biggest beneficiaries if the new system is enforced.
Many members of Congress are beginning to ask: why send talented folks back home – when they could contribute to fueling the …
Brazil’s Current Account Deficit Expands Rapidly
January 25th, 2013BY STAFF REPORT
Weakening demand for raw materials from China seems to have taken its toll on Brazil’s current account deficit. Figures released by the central bank Wednesday showed the country’s current account deficit widened to a record $8.413 billion in December from $6.27 billion in November.
Analysts blame the deficit on Brazil’s increasing import and slipping export.
“An increasingly unequal balance of payments also raises the question of whether Brazil can continue to cover the shortfall with foreign direct investment, whose growth has stagnated since a jump in late 2010,” says a report from Reuters.
When FDI inflow was strong and steady in large part of 2012, the Brazilian central bank had managed to keep the deficit under control. But foreign direct investment started declining in the second half of last year.
The last time foreign direct investment failed to cover Brazil’s annual current account …
Deutsche Bank Expects Latin America to Contribute More to Global Growth
January 17th, 2013BY STAFF REPORT
Latin America’s contribution to global economic growth will rise to 9 percent this year from 8.4 percent in 2009-11, says Deutsche Bank.
The investment bank has also raised the growth forecast for the region from 2.7 percent last year to 3.5 percent this year, according to a report published by Business News Americas.
Deutsche Bank expects Chile, Colombia and Peru to continue to deliver stable growth, but warns that Brazil’s growth will disappoint unless the government takes more effective steps to boost investment and competitiveness. “As for Argentina and Venezuela, Deutsche Bank is forecasting more of the same in 2013: high inflation, loose policies, political risk and social unrest,” the paper said.
The investment bank is also projecting the region’s GDP growth to accelerate to 3.9% in 2014.
Deutsche Bank expects the U.S. economy to grow at 2 percent …
Crowd Funding: A Better Tool to Pump Life Blood into Start-Ups
December 4th, 2012By Michael Blankman
Although I normally write about managing outsourcing, increasingly I get involved with finding niche alternatives for smaller targeted initiatives. Often with an infrastructure and an imagination in place there are infinite possibilities.
Crowd funding is one of those initiatives. Crowd funding may not be an outsourced service per se but represents a market that will require customer solutions, development and reporting. It also requires a low-cost infrastructure and bi-lingual support.
UN: Rising Wages Lifts Millions Out of Poverty in Latin America
November 28th, 2012BY STAFF REPORT
Poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean has dropped to its lowest level in three decades, and the number of people living in poverty has declined by one million in just over the past 12 months, says a latest study from ECLAC.
This year will end with 167 million people (28.8 percent of the population) living in poverty, but those facing extreme poverty have been at the same level as last year, noted the UN agency.
According the agency, nearly 66 million people are in extreme poverty in the region. Poverty in Latin America will continue to decline, but at a slower rate than in recent years.
The report titled ‘Social Panorama of Latin America 2012’ was released Tuesday at the ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile.
According to the report, 168 million Latin Americans, 29.4 percent of the region’s population, were living under the poverty line in 2011.
As in previous years, …
St. Kitts Sees Huge Increase in Foreign Direct Investment
November 19th, 2012BY STAFF REPORT
St. Kitts and Nevis received a record amount of FDI in 2011, outpacing most of the other nations in the Caribbean, according to a recent report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Given the contents of the report, St Kitts and Nevis received $142 million in FDI in the year 2011, an increase of nearly $20 million compared to US$122 million received in 2010.
ECLAC has attributed this surge in investment to the investor-friendly policies of the government in St. Kitts.
According to the report, St. Vincent & the Grenadines saw an increase from $103 million to $135 million in FDI during the same period.
But the FDI inflow decreased in Antigua & Barbuda from US$101 million in 2010 to US$64 million in 2011. Similarly, foreign direct investment declined in neighboring St. Lucia and Grenada also.
According to the report, Latin America and the Caribbean …
