*
Brazil government confident of victory in tax case in top
court
*
Colombia peso clocks best week in six months
*
Colombia's Congress approves $247 bln development plan
*
Ecuador frees cash for Galapagos with $1.6 bln bond
buyback
(Adds analyst comments, paragraph 10; details on currency
milestones, updates prices throughout)
By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Shreyashi Sanyal
May 5 (Reuters) - The Colombian peso rose for the fourth
straight session on Friday and the broader Latin American
currencies index hit its highest level in more than eight years,
supported by a weakening dollar and firm commodity prices.
The peso gained 1.8%, while Colombian stocks rose 0.9%. The peso recorded its best weekly
performance in nearly six months.
Colombia's consumer prices rose by 0.78% in April, taking
cumulative 12-month price growth to 12.82%, below median
estimates.
"We are starting to see that inflation is probably turning
the corner, but core inflation remains relatively sticky, so
that suggests that (the) central bank will have to keep interest
rates relatively higher for longer than we initially expected,"
Pantheon Macroeconomics' chief Latin America economist Andres
Abadia said.
Colombia's Congress on Thursday approved a $247.4 billion
four-year development plan, paving the way for President Gustavo
Petro's government to implement social and economic reforms.
Colombia's central bank board continued a long tightening
cycle last week amid persistent inflation and significant
stability risks to the global financial system, taking the
benchmark interest rate to 13.25%.
Overall, the MSCI's index for Latin American currencies rose 1.4%, hitting its highest level since
October 2014.
In Brazil, the real rose 0.5% against the dollar.
Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said the government
"has everything" to establish a successful thesis in a
high-profile tax case in the Supreme Court, potentially
increasing revenues by nearly 90 billion reais ($18 billion)
annually.
"The success of the new framework hinges on increased
revenues, as the aim is to gradually put public debt back onto
a sustainable path without the need for sizeable spending cuts
in the near term," said Wilson Ferrarezi, economist at TS
Lombard.
Chile's peso and the Peruvian sol added 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively, tracking firm copper prices, while Mexico's peso rose 0.5% touching its strongest level against the dollar since 2017.
Chileans will vote to elect 50 constitutional advisers on Sunday, a major step toward rewriting the constitution, after voters overwhelmingly rejected a first attempt in a plebiscite last September to replace the dictatorship-era charter. Credit Suisse has bought up $1.6 billion worth of Ecuador's bonds, freeing up cash for conservation of the country's unique Galapagos Islands in what is set to be the biggest debt-for-nature swap ever struck. Elsewhere in emerging markets, Turkish Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said that no one should expect the central bank to raise interest rates to above or near the current headline inflation, which stood at 43.7% in April, after the May 14 election.
Venezuelan opposition party Voluntad Popular named Freddy Superlano for a presidential nominating contest in October, replacing formerly anti-government leader Juan Guaido who left Venezuela unexpectedly in late April.
Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2008 GMT:
Stock indexes Latest Daily
%
change
MSCI Emerging Markets 982.61 0.64
MSCI LatAm 2260.38 3.43
Brazil Bovespa 105160.9 2.92
2
Mexico IPC 54885.73 0.4
Chile IPSA 5479.43 1.92
Argentina MerVal 295948.7 5.039
1
Colombia COLCAP 1168.28 0.84
Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 4.9428 0.00 Mexico peso 17.7745 0.72 Chile peso 793.6 0.64 Colombia peso 4504.6 2.22 Peru sol 3.6921 0.29 Argentina peso (interbank) 226.2000 -0.22 Argentina peso (parallel) 464 0.86 (Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; editing by Grant McCool)
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