* Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social has divested around 6 billion Brazilian reais worth of stakes in companies so far this year, compared to more than 7 billion reais in all of 2017, Folha de S.Paulo reported, citing investments director Eliane Lustosa. The total volume of divestments could reach 10 billion reais for full-year 2018, Diário Comércio Indústria & Serviços reported.
* S&P Global Ratings affirmed Brazil's long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings at BB- and B, respectively, with a stable outlook. Delays in advancing corrective fiscal measures and uncertain policy prospects following the 2018 elections weigh on the country's sovereign creditworthiness, S&P said.
* Peru's central bank maintained its monetary policy interest rate at 2.75%, saying that annual inflation remained within its target range in July. "Indicators of economic activity show signs of increased dynamism, although GDP remains below its potential level of growth," the bank said.
MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
* Consumer prices in Mexico increased 4.81% in the year through July, ticking higher for the second consecutive month, Reuters reported, citing the country's national statistics agency.
* Mexican pension fund administrators, or Afores, generally managed to sidestep market volatility in the first half of 2018 brought on by the country's presidential election and ongoing talks to renegotiate the NAFTA trade agreement, El Economista reported, citing industry executives.
* Banco Votorantim SA's second-quarter net income increased 76.6% to 256 million Brazilian reais from 145 million reais in the year-ago period. Net interest income improved 3.0% to 1.26 billion reais, while income from services and banking fees grew to 344 million reais from 326 million reais.
* Banco do Brasil SA said it now expects net loan loss provisions to total between 14.0 billion and 16.0 billion reais in 2018, down from a previous forecast of between 16.0 billion and 19.0 billion reais. The bank kept other guidance for 2018 unchanged, including its expectation for adjusted net income to reach between 11.5 billion reais and 14 billion reais.
* B3 SA – Brasil Bolsa Balcão posted recurring net income of 857.8 million reais for the second quarter, up 80.3% from 475.7 million reais in the year-ago period. The Brazilian stock exchange operator's total revenues increased 28.4% year over year, while expenses fell 20.9%.
ANDEAN
* Fitch Ratings said multilateral development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento, or CAF, continues to have enough cushion to offset the continued payment delays from Venezuela. However, Fitch expects a negative impact on CAF's rating should its exposure to Venezuela reach nonaccrual status, as this would hit its asset quality and dampen CAF's preferred creditor status.
* Fitch Ratings said Corporación Financiera Colombiana SA's offering of 40 million new common shares and 2.6 million new preferred shares to support investments and reduce financing needs will not affect the ratings of the company or its two largest shareholders, Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores SA and Banco de Bogotá SA.
* Interest rates on mortgage loans in Peru fell substantially during the second half of 2017 and the first half of 2018, but started to rise in the last few months, El Comercio reported. Manuel Piñán, BBVA Banco Continental SA's mortgage lending manager, said rates could continue rising in the next two months but the trend should not continue through the end of the year.
SOUTHERN CONE
* Chile's Grupo Security SA plans to expand its business in Peru in "all products and services," Diario Financiero reported, citing Chairman Francisco Silva. "We would like to expand as much as we can [in Peru]... but we are also realistic and can identify its consolidated sectors," Silva reportedly said.
* Reversing a negative trend seen in the last few days, Argentina's Merval stock index rose 0.87% on Aug. 9 with Banco Macro SA's stock price increasing 4.22%, El Cronista reported.
* Chile's Senate approved an agreement with Uruguay to eliminate double taxation while also approving a free trade agreement between the two countries, El Pais reported. The approval of the taxation deal was unanimous.
* Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Uruguay SA has opened a new branch in the Uruguayan city of Maldonado, El Pais reported.
* Argentina's so-called "notebook" corruption scandal will have a negative impact on the country's growth, Reuters reported, citing James McCormack, head of global sovereign ratings at Fitch Ratings. "The economic implications will be real, the implications for the rating will be lower," he was quoted as saying.
PAN LATIN AMERICA
* Moody's said the global trailing 12-month speculative-grade default rate closed at 2.8% in July, down from 3.0% in June and 3.3% a year ago. "Higher oil prices, stronger economic growth across most regions and generally accommodative monetary policies have been the main drivers of the year-over-year decline," said Sharon Ou, a vice president and senior credit officer at the rating agency.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
* Asia-Pacific: Aussie banks to fix anti-fraud controls; Vietnam to limit foreign bank licenses
* Middle East & Africa: Gulf states making progress in Bahrain aid talks; United Arab Bank downgraded
* Europe: Deutsche Bank in spotlight over FBME transfers; UK faces '20 years of low rates'
This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings, a separately managed division of S&P Global. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.
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