Posted on 27/09/2017 in category BIR
BIR World Mirror on Latin America - Issue September 2017
It has been a challenging quarter, to say the least. Mexico has suffered the impact of two major earthquakes and a hurricane in the last 15 days; thousands have been left with no home while vital infrastructure - such as hospitals and roads - has been damaged or destroyed. The US states of Texas and Florida, as well as the island of Puerto Rico, were also impacted by powerful hurricanes, all of which are vital for trade with Latin America.
On the trading side, there are also many challenges for the Latin American region, including cash-flow tightness. The international trader needs to bear in mind that liquidity has always been scarce across the region, and that interest rates are frequently multiples of those in the USA or in a developed European country.
Another challenge is currency volatility: again, the international trader needs to be aware that Latin American currencies tend to be more volatile than the US dollar, the Euro or even the Chinese RMB (...)
Alejandro Jaramillo – Glorem SC (MEX)
Chairman of the BIR Latin America Committee