Insights
Isolation One minute your life is more or less normal, wake up, work, gym, weekends, the pub, meeting your friends, family time, shopping, and then overnight, it changes. You’re told to isolate, and the words social distancing are introduced. Social what? We are social creature. Tribal by nature. How do I survive […]
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 […]
Claire Fleming, Associate Director, AKE International As an industry, oil and gas has defied the odds – forced in recent years to rally and evolve to meet new and lean market conditions imposed by the downturn; and to respond with greater agility to wider economic, environmental, ethical and societal drivers. Although in the short term […]
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: 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’ […]
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