Macroeconomy & Globalization

Newsmakers | Ukraine
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have run high since late 2013, when Russia resisted Ukrainian efforts to move out of the Russian sphere of influence and toward the West.

Milestones | New Zealand
In June, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand lowered its key cash interest rate a quarter of a percentage point to 3.25%, the first time the central bank has cut rates cut since 2011, citing a combination of deflationary pressure, plunging commodity prices and a slowdown in key export markets like China.

Newsmakers | Mexico
In June, Jaime Rodríguez Calderón became the first independent candidate to be elected a state governor in Mexico, winning office in Nuevo León.

Scotland still brings in more foreign direct investment than many larger countries. Last year it again headed the list of top UK destinations outside London.

At the beginning of the summer, credit insurance company Coface issued its monthly list of upgrades and downgrades of country risk.

Country Report | Portugal
Portugal’s economy is booming. Exports are up and unemployment is down. Insufficient capital investment is the last tough nut to crack, and the government is attacking it with gusto—and significant tax reform.

Chile | For years Chile has been recognized as one of the best-performing emerging markets in the world. But a combination of external and internal factors have changed that.

Vietnam | In May, Vietnam’s central bank once again devalued the country’s currency, the dong—the second such adjustment since January.

The European Union is still debating the nature of its common currency, the position of non-eurozone EU members like the UK, and the future of stressed eurozone countries like Greece.  But the situation in other parts of the world is quite different.

United Kingdom | Many questions are still being asked about David Cameron’s dramatic win on May 7. How did opinion polls, which predicted a tight race between  Conservatives and Labour and even a Labour win, get it so wrong?

Country Report | Egypt
Egypt may be on the verge of a major turnaround, as the most populous country in the Arab world looks set for sustained growth, lower unemployment and a manufacturing renaissance under president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Country Report | Spain
The era of absolute majorities in Spanish politics is over.

India | Indian prime minister Narendra Modi celebrated his one-year anniversary in office in May, but the jury is still out on whether he’ll justify the hope that has been invested his new government.

Country Report | Spain
Spain’s economic resurgence has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. But how sustainable is it, given structural inefficiencies, stubbornly high unemployment and the threat of external shocks?

Newsmakers | Nicaragua
When Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega announced last December a plan to construct a controversial transoceanic waterway that would provide an alternative to the Panama Canal, he vowed the project would create jobs and bring prosperity to the hemisphere’s second-poorest nation.

Regional Report | The Caucasus
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, the nations that make up the region of the Caucasus, are all working hard to improve their business and economic climates, but with varying degrees of success.

Milestones | United Kingdom
As Britons prepare for elections on May 7, the only certainty appears to be uncertainty, which looks set to continue until polling day—and maybe for some time after.

Cover Story | Compliance
As the US has extended its regulatory reach beyond its own borders, other jurisdictions have followed its lead. Global corporations face an ever-growing burden in maintaining compliance with increasingly complex regulatory and reporting regimes. This is affecting their budgets, their structuring and also their strategy.

Global Finance had a chance to interview Sim Tshabalala in April. The joint chief executive of Standard Bank Group answered questions about Africa’s growth and the substantial demand for banking services on the continent.

Global Finance sat down with Luiz Carlos Angelotti, MD and head of investor relations at Brazil’s Banco Bradesco, to discuss the bank’s bullish approach to investing despite the country’s economic downturn.