Economy

Devolution in Kenya is still in its early stages, and there have been growing pains with complications relating to funding and concerns over governance, but a spate of new initiatives is looking to increase momentum at the county level on both industrial and social development indicators.

The recent move by the European Central Bank (ECB) to loosen monetary policy, which included cutting the deposit interest rate to a landmark -0.1%, looks set to provide a welcome boost to both Turkey’s money markets and its broader economy.

Los poco esperanzadores resultados que arrojó la economía mexicana durante el primer trimestre del año, condujeron a que a finales del mes de mayo el gobierno redujera su pronóstico de crecimiento del PIB para el 2014, al ir del 3.9% al 2.7%. Si bien el presidente Enrique Peña Nieto ha anunciado seis pasos que el gobierno dará con el fin de acelerar el crecimiento, es probable que la implementación exitosa de la ambiciosa agenda de reformas de su administración determine si México estará en condiciones de solucionar algunos de los puntos más vulnerables de su economía.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) is set to demutualise in the coming months and sell equity in an initial public offering, an important step in Kenya’s plan to grow its financial sector. The move sets the stage for the next steps of its capital markets master plan, which will introduce new alternative instruments, including derivatives, futures, and real estate investment trusts (REITS) in years to come.

The Ankara government has played down forecasts by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and decisions of some ratings agencies to lower their expectations for the Turkish economy this year, saying recent reports did not take into account a number of favourable factors that will fuel growth.

Malaysia’s leadership is forging ahead with plans for entry to the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) despite domestic concerns that the multilateral trade agreement will negatively impact some domestic sectors and international concerns over delays in its progress.