Ones to Watch
Americas: Guyana’s electoral authorities to decide on general elections full recount Sectors: all; oil & gas Key Risks: political stability; policy continuity; civil unrest In Guyana, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is meant to decide on the modalities under which it will conduct a full recount of the 2 March general elections. The recount was […]
Americas: Argentina delays local-law debt repayments amid heightened Sectors: all Key Risks: sovereign default; policy continuity In Argentina, the government issued a decree unilaterally postponing the payment of up to US$10bln in dollar-denominated debt issued under local law until 31 December or a prior date to be determined by the Economy Ministry. The move, which […]
Americas: Brazil’s Petrobras to cut output, investments amid COVID-19 Sectors: oil and gas Key Risks: economic risks; frustration of process In Brazil, state-owned Petrobras announced plans to cut crude oil production, investment spending and refined-product output to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and of plummeting oil prices. On 26 March the firm stated that it […]
Americas: COVID-19, low oil prices hit Ecuador, Fitch cuts sovereign credit rating to ‘CCC’ Sectors: all; mining Key Risks: business and economic risks; sovereign default In Ecuador, plummeting oil prices and the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak will continue to heighten sovereign default and business disruption risks. On 20 March authorities announced that Canada’s Lundin Gold’s Fruta del Norte […]
Americas: Border closures, travel restrictions, deportations amid COVID-19 in Latin America Sectors: all Key Risks: business and economic risks; travel disruption; FoP Latin American countries will continue to heighten measures to try to control the spread of COVID-19. Border closures, deportations of tourists refusing to quarantine, banning large public events, suspension of flights, banning foreigners and […]
Americas: Argentine farmers launch commercial strike to protest export tax hike Sectors: agriculture; all Key Risks: business risks; strikes; transport disruption; protests In Argentina, farmers launched a four-day commercial strike on 9 March which could also lead to disruptive protests on the country’s main roads. On 5 March the Rural Confederations of Argentina (CRA) announced […]
Americas: Mexico’s Pemex posts US$18.3bln loss in 2019, financial challenges to persist Sectors: all; oil & gas Key Risks: non-payment; recession; credit rating downgrade In Mexico, on 27 January state-owned oil firm Pemex announced a US$18.3bln net loss in 2019, almost double the losses reported in 2018 and its worst annual performance not primarily due to external […]
Americas: Guyana to hold long-delayed snap general elections on 2 March Sectors: all; oil & gas Key Risks: political stability; contract frustration; policy continuity; civil unrest In Guyana, long-delayed snap general elections will take place on 2 March following a December 2018 vote of no confidence against President David Granger’s government. The vote will be […]
Americas: Electoral tensions to rise in the Dominican Republic as municipal vote suspended Sectors: all Key Risks: political instability; civil unrest In the Dominican Republic, electoral tensions are set to rise following the suspension of the 16 February municipal elections due to a glitch in the electronic voting system. Electoral authorities suspended the vote four […]
Americas: Tensions spike in El Salvador over President Bukele’s plan to tackle crime Sectors: all Key Risks: civil unrest; constitutional crisis In El Salvador, on 7 February President Nayib Bukele gave the Legislative Assembly (LA) a one-week ultimatum to approve the government’s plan to tackle crime, which included a US$109m multilateral loan to equip the security […]
Americas: First votes in US Democratic nomination contest set to begin in Iowa state Sectors: all Key Risks: policy continuity In the US, Democratic Party voters in the state of Iowa are scheduled to take part in their caucus on 3 February. The event will mark the first step in choosing the Democratic nominee which […]
Americas: Argentina to speed up debt restructuring talks Sectors: all Key Risks: sovereign default; policy continuity In Argentina, the Economy Minister is expected to meet IMF and US Treasury officials in the US as negotiations to restructure around US$100bln in sovereign debt continue. President Alberto Fernandez recently stated that the country needs a ‘relatively quick’ […]