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1,700 | <s>[INST] Another advantage is that foreign firms have invested heavily [/INST] in local banks, particularly in Argentina and Brazil, helping to shore up loan portfolios and improve efficiency. </s> |
1,701 | <s>[INST] Analysts say these large foreign partners, notably Spain's Banco [/INST] Santander SA and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya SA, could provide an extra capital cushion in a funding squeeze. </s> |
1,702 | <s>[INST] That contrasts sharply with local banks in [/INST] Southeast Asia, many of which simply stopped lending when markets and currencies plunged. </s> |
1,703 | <s>[INST] "In Asia, credit lines were simply cut," [/INST] said David Sampol, director of international equity at Van Eck Global. </s> |
1,704 | <s>[INST] Of course, the degree of debt-cover in [/INST] Latin America varies, with Brazilian companies facing the heaviest short-term debt load. </s> |
1,705 | <s>[INST] In addition to $2.6 billion in Eurobonds that mature through December [/INST] 1999, they face $3.9 billion in bonds carrying "put" features that compel companies to buy them back at fixed rates. </s> |
1,706 | <s>[INST] Since bond prices have plunged recently, at current levels [/INST] most companies would have to buy the bonds at above-market rates, says Anne Milne at ING Barings. </s> |
1,707 | <s>[INST] And across the region, earnings for commodity [/INST] sellers have fallen sharply, making it tougher to meet debt payments. </s> |
1,708 | <s>[INST] Best off are companies with monopolies or duopolies [/INST] in their sectors that can raise prices to compensate for higher borrowing costs. </s> |
1,709 | <s>[INST] This includes Brazilian cellular companies, which can adjust their rates beginning next [/INST] year, and cement companies like Mexico's Cemex SA and Peru's Cementos Lima, which can set prices for their markets, Mr. Stoeppelwerth says. </s> |
1,710 | <s>[INST] Brazil's fixed-line phone companies and electric utilities are [/INST] less flexible, since the government typically only adjusts tariff rates once a year. </s> |
1,711 | <s>[INST] And retailers, steel companies and electric utilities, which extend a [/INST] lot of credit to customers, are particularly vulnerable to a breakdown in the chain of payments, he notes. </s> |
1,712 | <s>[INST] --- The Least Leveraged Latin American public companies with the lowest ratios of total liabilities to shareholders' equity, with negative numbers indicating companies with more cash than liabilities Company Country Sector Net [/INST] debt/equity ratio Grupo Modelo Mexico brewing -24.5% Cifra Mexico retail -24.1 Telesp Fixed Brazil telecom -14.9 Siderca Argentina steel - 3.6 Eletrobras Brazil electricity - 2.5 Buenaventura Peru mining 0.0 Quilmes Argentina brewing + 0.1 CCU Chile brewing + 1.2 Kimberly-Clark Mexico paper products + 2.7 CANTV Venezuela telecom + 9.5 Source: Robert Fleming Inc. Credit: Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal </s> |
1,713 | <s>[INST] ___ Document 328 of 500 Rates Slow Auto Sector In Argentina [/INST] And Brazil Author: By Craig Torres Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 17 Sep 1998: A17. </s> |
1,714 | <s>[INST] , a division of Ford Motor Co., announced its [/INST] third work stoppage for the year, saying it plans to idle 6,000 workers for 12 days. </s> |
1,715 | <s>[INST] unit, also plans to idle [/INST] 7,000 workers for 12 days in October. </s> |
1,716 | <s>[INST] Italian auto maker Fiat SpA will suspend production at one of [/INST] its Argentine plants for three days later this month because of sluggish market conditions in Brazil, company officials said this week. </s> |
1,717 | <s>[INST] Separately, the Argentine unit of French car maker Renault SA said [/INST] yesterday it plans to halt production at one of its plants for three days because of weak demand from Brazil. </s> |
1,718 | <s>[INST] Full text: BUENOS AIRES -- High interest rates are starting [/INST] to slow Argentina and Brazil's auto sectors, one of the region's most important motors of job creation and growth. </s> |
1,719 | <s>[INST] , a division of Ford Motor Co., announced its [/INST] third work stoppage for the year, saying it plans to idle 6,000 workers for 12 days. </s> |
1,720 | <s>[INST] unit, also plans to idle [/INST] 7,000 workers for 12 days in October. </s> |
1,721 | <s>[INST] Italian auto maker Fiat SpA will suspend production at one of [/INST] its Argentine plants for three days later this month because of sluggish market conditions in Brazil, company officials said this week. </s> |
1,722 | <s>[INST] Separately, the Argentine unit of French car maker Renault SA said [/INST] yesterday it plans to halt production at one of its plants for three days because of weak demand from Brazil. </s> |
1,723 | <s>[INST] "This all began with the storm in financial markets [/INST] during the month of August," Vincenzo Barello, president of Fiat Argentina SA, said in an interview yesterday. </s> |
1,724 | <s>[INST] Interest rates in both [/INST] countries are rising because of distinct reasons. </s> |
1,725 | <s>[INST] In Argentina's dual-money banking system, where clients can [/INST] use dollars or local pesos, deposits remain stable, indicating there is almost no capital flight. </s> |
1,726 | <s>[INST] But there is a slow, orderly increase [/INST] in dollar deposits compared with pesos, which is increasing peso lending rates. </s> |
1,727 | <s>[INST] In Brazil, outflows of foreign [/INST] capital have raised domestic interest rates sharply. </s> |
1,728 | <s>[INST] Average lending rates for a two-year auto loan in Argentina are [/INST] around 18% today; in Brazil, one large auto financing company has raised rates to 3.3% a month, or around 48% annually. </s> |
1,729 | <s>[INST] Auto production and related industries [/INST] make up about a quarter of Argentina's industrial output. </s> |
1,730 | <s>[INST] Pedro LaCoste, an independent economist here, says the [/INST] auto industry's slowdown is an early indicator of the slowdown in Argentina's economy. </s> |
1,731 | <s>[INST] Nevertheless, Argentina's economy ministry is estimating [/INST] gross domestic product growth of more than 4% next year. </s> |
1,732 | <s>[INST] "We are convinced that the hypotheses [/INST] we used are reasonable," Economy Minister Roque Fernandez said this week. </s> |
1,733 | <s>[INST] Mr. Fernandez also said he [/INST] didn't think unemployment will rise next year. </s> |
1,734 | <s>[INST] --- Peter Fritsch in [/INST] Sao Paulo, Brazil, contributed to this article. </s> |
1,735 | <s>[INST] ___ Document 337 of 500 Argentina Confident Despite Ills In Brazil [/INST] Author: By Craig Torres Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 14 Sep 1998: A24. </s> |
1,736 | <s>[INST] accountid=28034 Abstract: This year's rout in the local stock market [/INST] aside, an eerie calm prevails in Argentina as its giant neighbor, Brazil, wrestles with a worsening threat of devaluation. </s> |
1,737 | <s>[INST] Developed by former Economy Minister Domingo [/INST] Cavallo in 1991, the convertibility plan essentially acknowledged the obvious. </s> |
1,738 | <s>[INST] A vicious cycle of devaluation [/INST] and hyperinflation had completely discredited Argentina's money. </s> |
1,739 | <s>[INST] So Mr. Cavallo simply said [/INST] Argentina has no other currency but dollars. </s> |
1,740 | <s>[INST] In effect, pesos are merely dollar substitutes used for commercial and nationalistic purposes; Argentines [/INST] can use dollars to pay for taxi rides, meals, candy bars or just about anything because pesos and dollars are completely interchangeable at a one-to-one rate. </s> |
1,741 | <s>[INST] The central bank must back every [/INST] peso in circulation today with a dollar of reserves. </s> |
1,742 | <s>[INST] 2 show that Argentina's overall level of [/INST] bank deposits is stable, a sign that capital flight hasn't plagued Argentina. </s> |
1,743 | <s>[INST] Skittishness over the Argentine peso is also negligible with total dollar [/INST] deposits rising in the most recent period by less than $1 billion, though further increases may be seen in coming days. </s> |
1,744 | <s>[INST] "The financial system has behaved better" with each test, [/INST] Pablo Guidotti, Argentina's vice minister of economy, said Friday in an interview with Wall Street Journal editors. </s> |
1,745 | <s>[INST] Full text: BUENOS AIRES -- This year's rout in the local [/INST] stock market aside, an eerie calm prevails in Argentina as its giant neighbor, Brazil, wrestles with a worsening threat of devaluation. </s> |
1,746 | <s>[INST] For now, Argentines are confident that their seven-year-old [/INST] monetary system, known as the convertibility plan, can withstand the shock of Brazil's currency turmoil. </s> |
1,747 | <s>[INST] "I don't see any risk that convertibility is modified," [/INST] says Carlos Leone, chief executive officer of Acindar SA, a large specialty steel company here. </s> |
1,748 | <s>[INST] Developed by former Economy Minister Domingo [/INST] Cavallo in 1991, the convertibility plan essentially acknowledged the obvious. </s> |
1,749 | <s>[INST] A vicious cycle of devaluation [/INST] and hyperinflation had completely discredited Argentina's money. </s> |
1,750 | <s>[INST] So Mr. Cavallo simply said [/INST] Argentina has no other currency but dollars. </s> |
1,751 | <s>[INST] In effect, pesos are merely dollar substitutes used for commercial and nationalistic purposes; Argentines [/INST] can use dollars to pay for taxi rides, meals, candy bars or just about anything because pesos and dollars are completely interchangeable at a one-to-one rate. </s> |
1,752 | <s>[INST] The central bank must back every [/INST] peso in circulation today with a dollar of reserves. </s> |
1,753 | <s>[INST] The plan tamed inflation to nearly zero [/INST] and helped turn Argentina into a magnet of foreign direct investment. </s> |
1,754 | <s>[INST] The result has been booming economic [/INST] growth averaging more than 6% annually over the past nine years. </s> |
1,755 | <s>[INST] "Convertibility has withstood the test of [/INST] time," says Lawrence Goodman, chief economist at Santander Investment, New York. </s> |
1,756 | <s>[INST] 2 show that Argentina's overall level of [/INST] bank deposits is stable, a sign that capital flight hasn't plagued Argentina. </s> |
1,757 | <s>[INST] Skittishness over the Argentine peso is also negligible with total dollar [/INST] deposits rising in the most recent period by less than $1 billion, though further increases may be seen in coming days. </s> |
1,758 | <s>[INST] "The financial system has behaved better" with each test, [/INST] Pablo Guidotti, Argentina's vice minister of economy, said Friday in an interview with Wall Street Journal editors. </s> |
1,759 | <s>[INST] "Dollars are not leaving [/INST] the country," confirmed one private banker here. </s> |
1,760 | <s>[INST] Perhaps the larger risk [/INST] to Argentina today is a Brazilian recession. </s> |
1,761 | <s>[INST] Through strategic planning and proximity, both local companies and [/INST] foreign multinationals located here have made an enormous bet on Brazil, Latin America's largest economy. </s> |
1,762 | <s>[INST] Brazil is also pivotal to regional growth [/INST] within Mercosur, a trading block that also includes Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. </s> |
1,763 | <s>[INST] "The disruption a devaluation [in Brazil] would have on [/INST] the way day-to-day business is done is unmeasurable," says Paul Dougall, director at Deutsche Bank Securities SA. </s> |
1,764 | <s>[INST] "Today, Argentine companies either trade, [/INST] invest or do joint ventures with Brazil. </s> |
1,765 | <s>[INST] [A devaluation] would have [/INST] a devastating effect on the Argentine" economy. </s> |
1,766 | <s>[INST] The lightning rod of pessimism so far has [/INST] been the Argentine stock market, which fell last week to lows unseen in three years. </s> |
1,767 | <s>[INST] But Mr. Dougall thinks Argentine companies have [/INST] yet to adjust to the effects of a possible Brazilian slowdown. </s> |
1,768 | <s>[INST] Brazil absorbs a third of [/INST] Argentina's exports, including the majority of its auto exports. </s> |
1,769 | <s>[INST] Some of the goods, such [/INST] as oil, could be redirected to other markets. </s> |
1,770 | <s>[INST] But other industries will [/INST] have a difficult time replacing Brazilian consumption. </s> |
1,771 | <s>[INST] "If Brazil stops buying our autos, we won't be [/INST] able to sell them to anybody," says Hernan Lacunza, economist at Fundacion Capital, an Argentine think tank. </s> |
1,772 | <s>[INST] An executive at a shoemaker here, which exports about a fourth of its [/INST] annual sales to Brazil, says many of its products would be priced out of the market in the event of a Brazilian devaluation. </s> |
1,773 | <s>[INST] Argentine officials are cautious about predicting how Mercosur [/INST] will negotiate trade issues in the event of a drastically cheaper Brazilian currency. </s> |
1,774 | <s>[INST] "Competitive devaluations aren't good for anybody" because of [/INST] the economic chaos they create, says Jorge Campbell, Argentina's secretary for international economic relations. </s> |
1,775 | <s>[INST] He says the two countries haven't discussed compensatory mechanisms; however, [/INST] the secretary of industry said last week that consultations with Brazil on trade issues are under way. </s> |
1,776 | <s>[INST] Mr. Leone, the chief executive at steel maker Acindar, [/INST] says the company's specialized products don't have many competitors, so sales to Brazil shouldn't suffer too much. </s> |
1,777 | <s>[INST] The bigger worry is that a Brazilian [/INST] recession will slow growth in Argentina and other important regional markets. </s> |
1,778 | <s>[INST] "We were estimating growth for next [/INST] year of about 3% to 4% for Argentina," Mr. Leone says. </s> |
1,779 | <s>[INST] Given the likelihood of continued volatility in [/INST] Brazil, "we think that now we will have growth of zero". </s> |
1,780 | <s>[INST] ___ Document 373 of 500 [/INST] The Americas: How About a Single Currency for Mercosur? </s> |
1,781 | <s>[INST] Author: By Sebastian Edwards Publication info: Wall [/INST] Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 28 Aug 1998: A11. </s> |
1,782 | <s>[INST] accountid=28034 Abstract: Earlier this year, Argentina's President Carlos Menem suggested [/INST] that Mercosur -- the trade pact formed by Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay -- should have a common currency. </s> |
1,783 | <s>[INST] In fact, Brazil's salvation, and future, [/INST] may well be intricately linked to the implementation of this plan. </s> |
1,784 | <s>[INST] After the collapse of the Russian ruble, Brazil, with its [/INST] huge fiscal deficit, obscenely high interest rates, slow growth, quasi-fixed currency, and burgeoning short-term debt, looks particularly vulnerable. </s> |
1,785 | <s>[INST] Under attack by global speculators, Brazil's international reserves are declining, and in an [/INST] effort to attract fresh foreign financing, the authorities have reversed restrictions on short-term capital inflows that were put in place only last March. </s> |
1,786 | <s>[INST] As Brazilian risk increases, [/INST] so does the country's cost of borrowing. </s> |
1,787 | <s>[INST] The resulting high interest rates are contributing [/INST] to an ever growing fiscal deficit, and continue to choke the economy. </s> |
1,788 | <s>[INST] In evaluating Brazil's options it is [/INST] useful to look at its neighbor to the south, Argentina. </s> |
1,789 | <s>[INST] In 1991, after two rounds of hyperinflation, Argentina implemented a new monetary [/INST] system based on a fixed, one-to-one, exchange rate to the U.S. dollar, free capital mobility and strict constraints on central bank behavior. </s> |
1,790 | <s>[INST] Under this "convertibility" system, 100% of Argentina's monetary base [/INST] is backed with foreign exchange, and the central bank is forbidden from granting credit to the government. </s> |
1,791 | <s>[INST] This system has been supplemented with high liquidity requirements on local [/INST] banks, giving stability to the financial system, and an international credit line that can provide liquidity in a crisis. </s> |
1,792 | <s>[INST] Full text: Earlier this year, Argentina's President Carlos Menem suggested [/INST] that Mercosur -- the trade pact formed by Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay -- should have a common currency. </s> |
1,793 | <s>[INST] In fact, Brazil's salvation, and future, [/INST] may well be intricately linked to the implementation of this plan. </s> |
1,794 | <s>[INST] After the collapse of the Russian ruble, Brazil, with its [/INST] huge fiscal deficit, obscenely high interest rates, slow growth, quasi-fixed currency, and burgeoning short-term debt, looks particularly vulnerable. </s> |
1,795 | <s>[INST] Under attack by global speculators, Brazil's international reserves are declining, and in an [/INST] effort to attract fresh foreign financing, the authorities have reversed restrictions on short-term capital inflows that were put in place only last March. </s> |
1,796 | <s>[INST] As Brazilian risk increases, [/INST] so does the country's cost of borrowing. </s> |
1,797 | <s>[INST] The resulting high interest rates are contributing [/INST] to an ever growing fiscal deficit, and continue to choke the economy. </s> |
1,798 | <s>[INST] Since last week's Russian meltdown, there have been rumors that the administration of [/INST] Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso is only playing for time, and that the real might be devalued immediately after the October presidential election. </s> |
1,799 | <s>[INST] As the experiences of Mexico, East Asia and Russia have [/INST] decisively shown, in this era of global capital mobility there is no such thing as an orderly devaluation. </s> |
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